Episode 53: Terra
by StormWriter18
Summary: The Farside of Atmos - a new place filled with old secrets. Cyclonia may be beaten, but Cyclonis herself isn't done yet. As the past and present coalesce, the Storm Hawks are in for the most turbulent ride of their lives, but nothing is ever as it seems.
1. Squadron Log

_Episode 53: Terra_

_Squadron Log_

_It's our third day here in the Farside . There are no radio signals here, no time pulse. There was one small incident involving Finn and a large plant that tried to eat him, but so far, no major casualties. We have seen no other 'people', and no creatures, aside from that plant, have attacked us. _

_And most of all, we have seen no sign of Cyclonis. _

_Although we were only a matter of moments behind her she's managed to evade us for these past three days. It's no wonder either. She has, afterall, already been here before while we're completely new to this place. _

_It would appear that the Farside does not consist of 'terras' like Atmosia. In fact, it's rocky terrain is similar to the wastelands, minus the magma. The land here seems to stretch on forever. I asked Aerrow to fly up as high as he could to see if there was an end to all this land- he reported that he could see no edge to it. Time is also different here. When we first came, it was nearing dawn in Atmos, but when we arrived, it was twilight. I can't tell you how much our sleep schedules are messed up._

_But aside of losing track of one of the most dangerous villains to have ever lived, were all having a pretty good time. We've started re-building our rides already but it'll take a bit. Mapping this place is both a nightmare and a dream come true. A nightmare because there is simple so much of it to map but a dream because it's something I've always wanted. When I'm not mapping I'm either experimenting with some newfound crystals or scouting the area with the others. Everyone's fascinated with this place and were actually enjoying ourselves. Everyone that is, except-_

"Imminent death and destruction! Thousands upon thousands of possibilities. Completely unknown dangers that will result in our absolute _dooom_. It could be _anything! _That flower, that rock, that mysterious growling noise! Aaahhah!"

_Everyone except Stork. _

"Actually Stork," said Junko apologetically. "That 'growling noise' is my stomach. Huh." He patted his stomach and licked his lips before asking, "When's lunch?"

Then Stork was in his face. "Don't you get it?" He said in his often panicked voice. His yellow eye twitched manically. "_No ones _ever charted this place before. WHO KNOWS what kinds of _horrifying creatures_ live here? What _infectious diseases? _At any given moment we are susceptible and completely unaware of the possible dangers that will ultimately result in our excruciating and inescapable deaths!" He stopped to take a large intake of air.

"Then you'll just have to be the one who records it." said Aerrow handing Stork a black notebook. Stork took it but replied, "Actually Aerrow, it's quite difficult to record one's own death: _especially_ while it's occurring."

"Not our, uh, deaths Stork." said Aerrow. "Anything dangerous. Like you said, no ones ever been here before. That makes it our duty to record any threats. Who better for the job than you?"

Stork looked down at the book in his hands and gave a nervous chuckle. "Heheh…I s'pose you're right." he began walking back towards the Condor. " On the rare chance some straying traveller should happen upon our bodies, this book may be their only chance at survival. At least-," he added in a darker tone looking back, "for a little while."

Aerrow gave an unsure half smile.

At least he'd gotten Stork to stop panicking momentarily. Then he saw Piper approach out from the corner of his eye.

"All done charting this sector?" He asked.

"Yup." She said. "And I finished an entry in our squadron log. I've been so distracted by this place I hadn't written anything. How'd you get Stork to stop panicking?"

As though on cue Stork made a loud "Ahaaa!" and snapped a photo of a rock in the brush before scribbling a note down his little black book, while muttering something incomprehensible.

The team members looked back at each other.

"I just asked Stork to make a record of anything dangerous we found so we can avoid it later on."

Piper replied with a drawn out _"Uh-huh." _which seemed to imply that this was both a good idea and a bad one.

"Anyways," said Aerrow. "How much longer will it take for us to reach the city?" He couldn't hide the eagerness in his voice.

"A couple more days, depending." Piper replied.

"A couple more days?" he replied sounding disappointed. "But...it's right _there_." He gestured with his arm behind them. Through the scare brush and past the sharp towering rock formations, was the city. Parts of it glittered and glowed brightly in the setting sun. Technically, it would take about or hour so to fly there.

"I know," said Piper. "But we need to take this slow. Mapping this place takes some time." Although it really didn't take that much time. "And _besides_- " she added. "We can't just rush in. We have no idea about the type of people that live there. Their customs and language could be completely different from ours."

"I know." said Aerrow, who then smiled. "Isn't it great?"

Piper looked unimpressed.

"Aerrow just think about it." She said, trying to inject some logic into the situation before his enthusiasm led to something dangerous (or more dangerous than usual anyways). "They might see us as a threat: An enemy. If we can't communicate with them, then they might attack us. With their technology we won't be able to hold our own. And what if Cyclonis is already there? She could have told them _anything _about us."

" All the more reason we should go then." He said placidly then looked gently at her, "Relax Piper." He put a hand on her shoulder, then added jokingly, "You're starting to sound like Stork."

"I just think we should be careful."

"And we will be." He insisted.

Just then there was a loud cry and they turned around sharply. Finn's butt was stuck in the people-eating plant again.

About twenty metres away, against the side of an outcropping sat the large plant with an even larger flower (like a Venus-fly-trap mutated with a pitcher plant). Finn's rear was securely rooted in what was the plant's mouth. He struggled unsuccessfully, then caught his squadron mates' stares.

"I swear," he said looking at Aerrow and Piper. "This time it wasn't my fault."

Junko laughed, "Looks like it came back for seconds!"

"Quit laughing Junko and just help me out!" said Finn frowning.

A bright light went off blinding Finn as Stork snapped a photo.

"Uhhmmm," he said the letting the camera hang round his neck, and scribbled into his new black book. "Carnmanges Plantus. Or" he said pointing the pen at Finn, "Flesh eating plant."

Junko held tightly to Finn's arms and tried to pull him free. For a second Finn remained stuck then POP! He and Junko went flying though the air, free from the plant's grasp. They landed with a crash. Finn sat up holding his head which he had landed on. "Why is it always me?" he muttered.

Piper looked at Aerrow, who sheepishly smiled.

"Careful huh?" was all she said.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Ya, I'm finally posting this. Yes, I know there's already two (or more) other Other Side stories (I almost called this The Other Side too) but I've already thought a lot up for this and written some and there's no way I'm giving it up now. **

**EDIT 27/07/13:**

**I am getting back into this story and re-working a lot. Currently, I'm re-reading m own work and a lot of edits may be taking place so I may change details about the story and even modify the plot. WIP. Sorry for all and any inconvenience. **


	2. The Third Night

_The sky here is beautiful. _

Piper stood on the deck outside, gazing up.

_It glows more than in Atmos. _

The sun had set just set in the Farside, turning the sky green and slowly darkening it. Stars punctured the green. They glittered - as though the crystals that littered this place had flown up to the heavens. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Perhaps the crystals that were so plentiful here had come from the stars. Were the stars.

Piper sighed.

"Something else isn't it?" said a voice from behind. She turned to see Aerrow come up beside me, also resting his arms on the rail.

"Yeah," Piper said quietly, looking back into the sky. Strange flying creatures flew near the ship and in the air. Their whistles and calls were similar to the whales of Terra Aquanos. Sometimes it sounded like singing.

Aerrow's arm and her's rested next to each other, bracelets clinking together.

They made her remember another time… a lifetime ago.

""_How are you'r metal skills?" asked Caracar from under a skimmer._

"_What?" asked Aerrow, he and Piper standing together._

_Gyr Caracar, a member of the Skyknight squadron Tempest Falcons, pulled himself from under the skimmer, then sat facing the two kids ._

"_You want to be Skyknights? Join a squadron?"_

"_Yes!" called Aerrow excitedly. Piper nodded, smiling shyly. _

"_Then you need to know metal. We can start you off with something simple. Bracelets are good." He held out his hefty arms and showed a metal bracelet dangling from each hand. "This one's from Sake ," he moved his left, "And this - well, never you mind. __C'mon then you two," he said getting up and leading them to work. "Lets see what you can do."_

_The bracelets were to help teach the basics about metalwork, not that it became either of their fortitudes. In the end they gave the bracelets to each other. _

"_Friendship bracelets," said Aerrow smiling._

Friendship bracelets. Piper smiled at the memory.

They had been eleven.

"I can't believe we're here," She said, looking out into the new land and then at Aerrow. "We've come a long way from just some kids playing Skyknight."

"We sure have," he agreed. Then his tone changed from subdued to excited. "Hey, are you tired?"

"No," she answered. She wasn't. It was still difficult falling asleep when night came, and staying awake when it was day light.

"Wanna go for a ride then? You, me and the others? Quick run around the area." He spun his finger in the air and smiled enthusiastically.

"Aerrow, it's dark out." Piper reasoned .Sometimes Aerrow acted as unthinkingly as Finn. "It's probably not safe."

"Alright," he said his excitement barely deflated. "You stay here then."

He was still on the high, she guessed, of being in a new world. His curiosity and daredevil habits could not be stalled by logic (again). He turned to walk away.

"Hey!"

He turned around.

"I didn't say _no_."

He smiled.

Stork declined to join because he was, well, Stork. Finn claimed that his wrestle with the vicious _Carnmanges Plantus _had tired him out and he needed to rest ( Aerrow and I had looked skeptically at him knowing that it hadn't been much of a 'wrestle', and while the Carnmanges Plantus may have tried to eat him, it was really just a strange flower).

Although, she had to admit, losing a fight to a flower is sure to damage anyone's ego. And butt.

Junko was out like a light, the only one to have fully switched his sleeping schedule to Farside time.

Radarr was game though, so the three hopped on their rides, Radarr with Aerrow of course, and took off into the glittering sky.

They rode around for about an hour, Aerrow doing stunts, Piper watching and laughing at Radarr's terrified expression. Although she knew it was dangerous, she couldn't help but enjoy herself.

_I'm glad I said yes, _she thought to myself. _I can't get over this place! Its amazing._

After a while they rested on one of the craggy outcroppings. It started to get chilly but none minded much. It was refreshing.

As they sat, Piper could feel herself soaking up the Farside. Or maybe it was soaking up her. It was a nice feeling. Minutes passed, and Aerrow and her hadn't spoken much.

They listened to the singing of the flying creatures like whales, to the sound of insects chirping, the winds rushing in and out of the rocks, and their own breathing and stared into the sky.

She wished that Junko, Stork and Finn had come along. But she was also kinda glad they hadn't. They didn't always appreciate these things. And it was nice just the three of them. Like old times.

When they got back to Condor, Radarr was asleep. He had dozed off in the cockpit and was snoring quietly. Piper giggled quietly as Aerrow lifted him up gently so he wouldn't wake and carried him back to his room.

Everyone else except Stork was also asleep. He thought at least _someone_ should wait for us to return. They thanked him and then returned to our own quarters.

Piper dozed off quickly that night; tired, but still tingling with excitement.

_Then the sky was dark. The clouds that the covered sky, horizon to horizon, and were a dark menacing purple. Heat lightning flashed white , temporarily illuminating the dark land around her._

_Thunder growled, like the sky was hungry._

_It seemed barren, empty of life except for herself. Tall sharp points of rock jutted up piercing the air all around . Large pieces of rubble seem to cover the ground too. She went to move forward but my foot caught on one. It clanged softly._

_She looked down at my foot._

_No, not rock._

_Armor._

_And on the surface a long deep scratch ran through the faded symbol of the Storm Hawks. _

_Revelation ran through her as she look around a second time._

_The lightning flashed again and she realized the rubble was remnants of a battle. Battered and burnt pieces of skimmers laid strewn about and surrounding her feet was dented empty armor._

"_Good job Piper," purred a voice behind her. She turned sharply to see Cyclonis, dressed in the usual dark robe, smiling._

"_That last one put up quite a fight," she mused. "But he never stood a chance against you."_

_She looked down near her feet and Piper followed her gaze._

_A set of twin blades laid broken in the dust._

"_No," She whispered staring."No!" _

_The air felt punched from her lungs. She crumbled to my knees._

_Cyclonis laughed. "What's the matter Piper? You were enjoying it a few seconds ago."_

"_No." She said again. "I wouldn't.. Never!" But she could barely hear myself over her laughter. _

_"C'mon Piper! This is what the Binding does! This is what it's meant for!"_

"No_, no…'_

_Her laughter drowned out everything. She was drowning in it. Choking on it._

"NO!"

Piper bolted upright in bed, sweating, awakened by her own yell. The blankets were clenched in her hands. Soft starlight streamed through the blinds.

_A dream then? She_ thought. Nightmare seemed the bettered word.

Her door opened suddenly and she jumped.

A small figure rushed in. Radarr scampered onto my bed and whimpered. He must have heard me yell.

"It's okay Radarr," she said scratching his head. "It was just a bad dream.". One that was eerily similar to the vision she'd once had before, when she had been practicing the Binding. She'd never figured out if that had been her own subconscious, a real vision, or maybe Cyclonis herself. Was there a crystal that allowed you to send dreams to other people? Maybe not in Atmos but the Farside was so much more plentiful...

Radarr curled against her side, a nice gesture, probably to make her feel safe. She settled back into bed.

"Just a dream. I think..."

* * *

**A/N:**

** I've been meaning to write something about those bracelets they always wear. I just thought the idea of friendship bracelets would be cute and nobody else wears them (well Junko sort of wears bracelets/bracers but he has two identical ones so that didn't fit). **

**EDIT 27/07/13: If you guys are rereading this and are confused it might be because I cut a huge chunk of this chapter out. It was wordy and unnecessary but if you want to read it (idk why) I should have it saved...somewhere.**


	3. Beauty Sleep

**A/N: Main author credit for this Chapter goes to StormyReader21. She was too impatient for me to write so she sat down for what seemed like three hours and wrote a whole chunk. Then I went through and edited, but this is mainly her idea. Hence the writing may seem a little different. It is also inspired by some true events that happened to her (O.o). Anyways, I wanted to upload this saturday but something was messed up and now it's better. I have no idea what though. Please read and review. The more reviews then the quicker I will upload the next chapter (hows that for bargaining eh?) Meanwhile I'm going to go and pretend that school is _not_ tommorow and I am just dreaming and soon I will wake up and discover that it is still July. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Part three: Beauty Sleep**

Piper sat up in her bed feeling edgy. After having the nightmare she could barely close her eyes, let alone sleep. She had been fading in and out of consciousness with Cyclonis to thank for that. Images of the ruined armour lay scattered in front of her and Cyclonis's cold laughter echoed through her ears. Sleep was impossible that night.

Ripping the blankets off her, she got up and set off towards the helm. Her mind felt clouded and foggy - some fresh air would do her good she figured. She took a sharp left down the corridor and quickened her pace while holding her head in her hands. This was turning out to be a horrible night and as she scrambled through the door that lead to the helm she realized it just got a whole lot worse.

Piper stood frozen in place, unable to comprehend the mistake she had just made, as she stared at the stirring form of Finn. Her head had not been in the right place because she had headed to the back of the ship instead of the front, right into Finn's room, where Finn laid on his bed on top of the covers in his briefs, spread out as if he had been put out for an examination.

Finns weary eyes started to blink open in confusion as light poured in from the hall. He wondered why he had heard footsteps in his room. Lazily, he looked around and to his surprise he saw Piper standing in the door with a confused and disturbed look that was staring directly at him. He sat up in confusion and immediately realized he was less than half-naked in front of her. Screeching, he ripped the blanket from underneath him and covered himself as fast as he could.

"What are you doing in here!?" Finn half yelled.

"Gah! Sorry!" She quickly covered her eyes with her hand. "I thought this was the door to the helm!" Her cheeks felt hot and she was sure her face was red. Piper immediately spun around in the doorway only to face Aerrow. He looked puzzled at why he had been woken up a second time this night. Baffled, he asked, "What is it now? What happened?"

Aerrow had been the only one woken by the noise, mainly because he was in the room right next to Finn.

"Nothing." Piper lied.

"But I heard someone ye-"

" OUT!" Finn yelled while he stood up pointing toward his bedroom doorway with one hand while the other held up a blanket over his body. Piper reacted immediately by grabbing Aerrow's shoulder and towing him out of Finns bedroom. The door closed behind them as Piper dragged Aerrow down the hallway. Piper let go of him when they turned the corner and gave Aerrow an embarrassed look.

" Best to leave Finn alone." she said still blushing. " I guess you could say I disturbed him in the middle of his beauty sleep."

Aerrow stared at her questioningly. Realizing he wouldn't leave until he got a full answer, Piper explained how she had not been able to sleep, and was heading toward the helm for some fresh air, but accidentally burst into Finn's room. Aerrow gave her a very worried look. She, along with the rest of the Storm Hawks had been living on the Condor for almost two years and it wasn't like her to suddenly get lost in her own home. She really did need a breath of fresh air and as he led her towards the helm he started to wonder if she was hiding something. Only a few hours ago had he found out that Cyclonis had been inside her head. What else was she hiding from him? And what had her nightmare been about? Although he had correctly guessed that it had something to do with Cyclonis she had failed to tell him what the details of her nightmare and exactly what had happened. That only led him to guess....

They paced in silence, side by side down the corridor to the helm and onto the balcony. Leaning against the rail Piper took a deep breath, sucking in the cool air. It did help to clear her head. Aerrow also enjoyed the fresh air, but it was not enough to make him forget about what was on his mind.

He stared at her with an uneasy expression. Warily, her eyes met his and he asked,

"Piper, what exactly happened in your nightmare?"

"You mean the one where I walk in on Finn in his underwear?" she said jokingly.

"You know what I mean," said Aerrow, his stare serious.

Piper's expression fell and she looked to the sky, unable to hold his stare. She sighed and looked up at the towering rocky formations that where scattered over the land.

And_ if_ the darkness had not eloped the land Piper may have seen the small female figure in the distance looking down at the two Storm Hawks from afar, whispering to another figure, who remained hidden safely behind the jagged rocks.

"Well…." The hidden figure asked impatiently to the girl. " They are alone, should we not strike now?"

" And jeopardize the entire mission?" The other replied fiercely.

"But Master-" The hidden one pleaded with a restless tone.

" But NOTHING!" she interrupted.

"We having been observing them for days and -" The hidden one pleaded again.

" And we will wait for weeks if we must, until the time is right. If we struck now the others would surely wake! You must be patient. And I will hear no more of this insufferable whining. Is that clear?!" She explained with such demand.

The other looked displeased with having to continue waiting, but she had convinced him.

And the two of them went back to watching and waiting for what would be the perfect opportunity.


	4. Opportunity

**Part Four: Opportunity**

"Ugh, I can't believe she just walked in on me like that!" muttered an annoyed Finn at breakfast.

"Well, that's what you get for sleeping in your underwear." replied Aerrow, pouring himself some cereal at the counter. The two kept their voices low, as to not be overheard by Radarr and Junko who were eating noisily at the table. They figured that the 'helm incident' was best kept secret.

Finn grumbled. "It was _hot_ last night."

"Wasn't that hot."

It was at that point Piper walked in. Finn and her shared an awkward glance before both turning away, Piper moving to the far end of the counter to make some toast.

"Why is my life so weird?" murmured Finn. Aerrow shook his head and smiled at Finn.

A moment later, Stork walked in.

"Umm," he said addressing Finn, "Is there a particular reason there's a sign on your door that says 'THIS IS NOT THE HELM!' ?"

Finn spared a glanced at Aerrow who looked back at him briefly.

"Nope. No reason at all." said Finn in a slightly irritated tone, progressing to sit at the table and eat breakfast.

Aerrow looked over at Piper, whose back was to the others, her head hanging low. She put one hand to her head and groaned quietly in embarrassment.

He walked over to her.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked quietly.

"Better, yeah." she said.

"Good." he said . "And listen," He tapped his hand against her arm. "Your nightmare you told me about." He paused for a second. "I doubt it really means anything. Especially if it is Cyclonis."

"It _is_ Cyclonis," Piper whispered back. "And I'm not going to let her get to me."

Aerrow didn't look as sure.

All that was happening these days was a surprise to him. And the surprises were routine.

For the next couple of days were filled with new creatures, new territory to map, new sights and new sounds.

And for Piper- new nightmares.

The next night she woke up twice: the first time, gasping for air. The second time she fell on the floor. She was tired from the lack of sleep, but there was work to be done so she put off sleep and worked profusely through her duties all day while the others watched her worriedly.

The night after that was also filled with unpleasantries, but she did manage to keep her 'wakings' quiet so that she wouldn't upset the others. That next morning Aerrow insisted that she'd take the day off.

"I slept well," lied Piper. "Really, no nightmares."

"I know you didn't sleep well Piper." said Aerrow arms crossed.

"I was sound asleep the entire ni-iiiigh-" She tried uselessly to suppress a loud yawn.

Aerrow raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Piper-" he started.

"I have work to do," Piper said. "I can't let it slide." That was what Cyclonis probably wanted, she thought. For her to start slacking off on her navigation duties, so that they would fall behind, slow their advance to the city. Maybe just loose track of where they had been or where they had gone; to become lost in this unfamiliar world.

Aerrow found it odd how he was the one having to be so logical. Usually it was _her_ trying to explain some logic to him.

"You're right," he said. "You have an important job. But tomorrow we'll reach the city and I'll need my navigator to be well rested and prepared for whatever happens."

_Not half-dead with insomnia and thinking un-clearly, _he thought quietly.

Piper's shoulders sagged. "I guess,,, you're right." she admitted. Another yawn passed through her lips. "And a small nap couldn't hurt." Now that she said it, the idea of a nap was sounding really appealing.

"Exactly," said Aerrow putting a hand on her shoulder and helping to guide her to her room. "We'll take care of the rest of the work and you just get some rest."

"Hmmm…." she responded contemplatively. She didn't feel very confident about leaving her work to the others- they'd rather goof off than study charts- but she was too tired to care.

Aerrow smiled to himself as he watched his friend retire to her quarters. Radarr chirped next to his leg.

"C'mon Radarr," said Aerrow. "Lets go do some mapping." _The others sure as heck aren't going to do it._

****

Piper slept through the rest of the day. The day turned to dusk, then night, then day again.

Her eyelids flickered open. She lifted her self upright and glanced at her window.

"Sunrise…?" she muttered confused. "But that means…"

Suddenly she jumped out of bed and dashed out into the hall and ran straight into Junko.

Which is like running into a wall.

Like a wall running into you.

She fell back, quite hard too, on to the floor.

"Opps!" exclaimed Junko. "Sorry Piper! I wasn't watching where I was going. " He reached down and helped pull her up.

"It's okay Junko. I was the one rushing." She said feeling rather dizzy. Then she remembered her urgency. "Junko, How long have I been asleep?"

Junko thought for a second. "Hmmm..well since yesterday. You slept right through the night. "

"The night?" exclaimed Piper. "You mean I've been asleep all this time?" She blinked and realized something. "That means…" She looked back up at Junko. "Have we reached the city?"

"Oh. Yeah. It's really pretty. Stork's keeping the Condor low and Aerrow's gonna go run recon."

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" she asked irritably.

"Uh, well, Aerrow said we should let you get all the rest you need."

Piper scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Where is he?"

***

Piper, followed by Junko, went down to the skimmer bay where the others were. Aerrow was just getting on his newly rebuilt skimmer with Radarr already in the co-pilot cockpit.

"You were going to leave without me?" asked Piper folding her arms over her chest.

Finn smiled. "Well look who decided to join us." he said. " How ya feeling sleeping beauty?"

"Much better, thank you." said Piper. She looked back at Aerrow. "I'm going with you," she stated.

Aerrow looked a little surprised. "Are you sure Piper?" he asked, still concerned about her.

"Hey!" exclaimed Finn loudly. "Why can she go if I can't?!"

Stork grumbled, fingers in his ears. "Maybe because _you're too loud?"_

"Hmmp," replied Finn crossing his arms.

"Piper," said Aerrow. "I don't think you've rested enough. Radarr and I will be fine on our own."

"I've rested plenty," she stated. "And _besides_, you need me. What _exactly_ do you and Radarr plan on doing if you run into Cyclonis? Or worse?"

"Hey, we'll keep low," he said in his usual calm and collected persona. "It's just simple recon."

"Uh...actually," said Junko shyly. "I'm kind of with Piper on this one." He look worriedly at Aerrow and Radarr. "I mean…the Cyclonians used some really powerful stuff last time we fought them. Cyclonis might have something to make her more powerful too."

"Junko has a point," said Stork. "If you do run into Cyclonis, _or anything else-" _he almost seemed to relish the idea of _anything else_, "you'd probably have a better chance of survival if were able to do the binding_. Which _you can only do when Piper's around."

Piper nodded at this.

Aerrow still looked unsure. "Are you sure you're up to it?" he asked.

Piper walked away and got on her new heliscooter ( it had took a bit of work for Junko and Stork to remodel the Talon Switchblade she'd taken back into one) and revved the engine. She smiled at him. It was hard not to smile back.

"Keep in contact," said Aerrow to the others. "We'll be back before sundown."

The hanger door opened and Aerrow, Radarr, and Piper zoomed down the runway and out into the Farside, while the rest of the team stared up at them as they flew towards a glimmering and mysterious city.

***

"What now Master?" asked the figure hidden in the shadow of a rock as he and his companion watched the two Storm Hawks fly off on their rides towards the towers. "We cannot allow them to reach the city."

"And we won't," replied the cloaked girl. _"This is the opportunity."_

***

Piper and Aerrow flew through the air keeping low to the ground. Excitement bubbled through them.

"What do you think it's like?" asked Piper mesmerized by the site of the city. It appeared to run on crystal energy. She could already see light reflecting of some large shards in a tower.

"We'll find out won't we?" said Aerrow smiling. Radarr chirped and brought out a camera from his cockpit drawer, then snapped a picture of the nearing city.

Aerrow stared at the city, eager as ever for adventure. But something sidetracked him. His smile melted.

"Piper?" He asked tentatively.

"Umm hmm?" she replied looking over to him, still smiling.

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

_He was asking her again? _Piper thought. Her smile faded.

"Yes, Aerrow." she insisted. "I didn't dream at all last night and I feel perfectly fine."

Aerrow was quiet for a moment, studying his friend.

"_You're lying."_

"What?" she replied.

"You _are_ still feeling tired . And you did have a nightmare last night. It was about your parents this time. But I don't think that-"

"_How could you possible know that?" _Piper asked back incredulous. Maybe her body was giving away some signs that she was still tired but how could Aerrow know what she'd been dreaming?

Aerrow looked away. "I - don't know." He said looking at the dash board of his skimmer. He didn't seem to be seeing it. "It's just a feeling I have." He looked back at her.

Piper thought to herself, her gaze drifting elsewhere. Then it dawned on her.

"The binding!" she exclaimed. She looked at Aerrow. "It probably has something to do with the perf-"

Piper didn't finish her sentence. Because it was at this point that a red energy blast from below smashed into her vehicle, snapped off the scooter's blades and sent it into a downward spiral leaving behind a trail of thick black smoke.

* * *

**A/N: Super tired right now, so forgive any spelling errors. I really haven't been posting alot with this one. I've been writing a good bit of it but I've hit a little snag. Let's just say I was re-watching episodes when I noticed something that might have been important. Forshadowing hints and I'm not sure what to do about it so I've been hesistating with cette story. Working on it though. Hope you all liked it.**

**Comments please!!!**


	5. Change of Plans

**Part Five:Change of Plans**

***Static***

The Condor's radio buzzed. Strange twisted and urgent noises gurgled past the stereo.

An voice spoke.

'Come in. Do you read?-_Static- _Do you read? This is Aerrow speaking.'

Stork turned around from a set of pipes he'd been inspecting.

'Do you read-_shhh_- e? Is anyone there? -_shhhh_- I re-_crackle_-This is an emergency!'

Stork ran over to the controls and grabbed the microphone.

"Stork here. I read you. What's the problem?"

A moment passed. There was only static.

"Aerrow? Are you there? What's the problem?"

Stork's eye twitched. "This is bad." He muttered to himself. He twisted some dials on the control board trying to improve the signal.

"Aerrow! Are you there? Piper? Radarr?"

'St-_shhh_-k? You there? Quick open the hanger door!'

"What's the problem? What happened?"

'Just open the door! We've been attacked!' Stork jumped a little, surprised by the fierceness of Aerrow's voice. He pulled the lever to open the hanger bay door then he clicked the button to activate the intercom.

"Junko, Finn, get to the hanger. We've got trouble."

But Finn and Junko were already there putting the finishing touches on their own newly- redone rides.

Sunlight from outside streamed as the door lifted higher.

Junko went to the intercom on the side of the wall and clicked the button.

"What is it Stork?"

Stork was eyeing the skies through the periscope.

There was some mountains, some weird birds flying, thankfully, away from them, the city towers... He looked there hardest thinking that his worst fears had (once again) come true. He was looking for the impending army of doom that was sure to be on it's way when a small trail of smoke caught his eye. His swerved the periscope some more, following the trail, and-

"Aha!"

There was Aerrow. Closing up, Stork noticed Piper sitting in front of him. They both looked messy; ashes and dirt smeared on their faces and their hair was out of place too. Small tears in Aerrow's uniform could be made out as well.

"It's Aerrow and Piper." He shouted so Junko could hear through the intercom.

Junko and Finn looked at each other, unsure whether their return was a good or bad thing.

Stork voice boomed again a little contemplative. "And they don't look so good."

Bad thing.

The two squaddies ran out through the threshold and looked into the sky.

Sure enough they could see a skimmer, slightly smoking, coming towards them. It landed roughly on the runway, the tires and Junko stared at the dirty appearance of their team leader and navigator. Aerrow's left sleeve had long tear through it and while Piper looked fairly alright, her face was smeared with dirt. Aerrow looked right at his surprised squad members, his face serious.

"We need to leave." he said. _" Now."_

-------

"Why?" Junko asked watching their leader.

Aerrow was already off the skimmer and headed for the intercom at the far side of the wall. Piper also dismounted.

Aerrow clicked the intercom. "Stork! Start the engine. We need to go. I'll explain later. "

Stork stood at the helm looking at the panoramic view of the Farside. The sun was shining, the city glittered, the rocks glittered, and the sky was blue.

"Doom on a clear day," he muttered. "The worst kind."

The Condor's engine started into life.

"Dudes," Said Finn. " What's going on? What happened to you?" Asked Finn approaching Piper, wondering if she needed help, but she was fine.

"We were attacked." said Piper briskly. "Cyclonis was waiting for us. Her and an army. The whole city!" she gestured to the outside. "We don't stand a chance."

Finn looked out into the sky . It was near cloudless, sunny, and blue. A little small bird twittered loudly. It was mockingly cheerful next to Piper's words.

"I don't see anyone." He said searching the clear skies for the army of destruction.

"That's because of their cloaking technology." Piper responded sounding irritated. She pulled a mysterious crystal from the pouch at her hip. "This ought to help." She said in a slightly wicked tone. She pointed the crystal into the sky and purple light erupted.

Finn blinked from the light trying to clear his vision. From the direction of the city's towers he could see a huge group of dots. The dots were advancing.

Finn's voice pitched higher. "_Okay. I see them."_

He ran and pulled down hard on the lever for the hanger door. The gear began to turn slowly and the door began to descend. Cautiously he looked back into the sky.

The dots had vanished.

"Ummm…", he looked at Piper. "Where'd they go?"

"Looks like my crystals charge only lasts a few seconds." She said, looking outwards.

Junko, meanwhile, had been staring at the still smoking skimmer the entire time. At first he'd been assessing damage and trying to figure out what would need fixing. But the longer he stared at the skimmer the more something seemed out of place.

He looked around the hanger.

"Where's Radarr?"

Two simple words that stopped all motion.

Aerrow and Piper looked at each other.

"Radarr's…." Aerrow looked down, as if he was unsure how to continue. The hanger door groaned quietly as it shut out the Farside light. The shadow slowly began to descend on Aerrow, darkening his hair…

"Radarr's gone."

His voice was emotionless. He looked up at Finn and Junko's shocked faces. The shadow descended over Aerrow's eyes.

"There's nothing we can do now."

"What d'you mean 'nothing we can do'?" Finn said confused. "We have to go back out there!"

Junko took a step forward. "Yeah! Radarr's a part of this team- we can't just leave him out there."

"No!" Shouted Piper. They turned to her. "We can't. A- Aerrow's right."

"We can't give up on him!" Finn said outraged. He turned back to Aerrow. "How can _you_ give up on him?"

_"Don't you get it?"_

Aerrow was staring at his feet again, his voice rigid. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. The shadow descended further.

"It's _too_ late. Going back won't fix anything. Radarr. Is. Gone. Fighting Cyclonis won't bring him back."

Junko's eyes widened in horror. "You don't mean he's…?"

Aerrow averted his eyes. " I wish there was something that could be done but there isn't. We have to leave ."

Finn growled, feeling watery-eyed. "Since when do we run from a fight? Radarr's your- _was_ your friend too! How can you just-" he sucked in a large gasp of air, blinking hard.

Aerrow looked up, anger in his eyes.

"_Were leaving. _Before anyone else gets hurt. No arguments."

The hanger door slammed shut.

Finn shut his eyes, grimacing and two little tears trickled down. Junko looked at the ground sniffing, also tearing up.

Aerrow turned his back to them, and began to walk away.

"Piper," he said. "We'll need you to open the doorway."

"Right." said Piper, quietly, following after him, leaving Finn and Junko behind. Their footsteps became quieter and quieter till finally they disappeared.

Junko, held back a sob. His whole form quavered. "Do you really think Radarr's ..g-gone?"

Finn looked at his Wallop friend. "Aerrow would never leave Radarr behind. Not if there was still a chance that he…" Finn swallowed. "I've never seen him so…angry though." he said more to himself than Junko.

Finally, Junko broke down and began wailing horribly. He flopped onto the floor and buried his face in his knees.

Finn sat down beside him, curled his arms around his own knees, and rested his forehead against them, to hide his face and smother his own sobs. He closed his eyes, and wished he was having one of Piper's nightmares and that soon, he would wake up to find himself back home, in his _old _home, the one he had before everything had gone wrong, before the Cyclonians had invaded. And he would tell his family about the craziest dream he had, where he was the sharpshooter of the Storm Hawks, and that he'd fought Cyclonians, and that they had even gone to the Farside! And then his family would laugh and tell him the he had an overactive imagination and that he should stop having so much sugar before he went to bed….

**A/N: Just keep reading this story, even if you didn't like this chap. It feels weird to me too. I think I might post the next part tommorow... Please please comment. **


	6. Party Time

**Part Six: Party Time**

**Finn's POV **

I woke up wondering why I was on a hard floor. Someone was snoring loudly beside me.

_This isn't my bed_…I thought wearily rubbing my forehead. Then I remembered where I was. Who I was.

And what had happened.

I groaned as I got up.

_Note to self: Sleeping on floor =Bad idea_. I looked over at Junko who still snoring. "Hey buddy," I said shaking his shoulder. "Junko, wake up."

Junko snorted, sat up startled and accidentally whacked an arm into me. I went flying backwards and landed on my butt.

"Huh? What? Finn?" Junko stood up and turned to see me. "What time is it?"

He offered a hand to pull me up. I took it and Junko yanked me up too strongly. I almost fell forward.

"No idea." I said catching myself. The hanger lights were dimly lit and there were no windows to give us any hints. I didn't even know if we were still in the Farside or not.

"Let's go find the others," I said and we went set off for the bridge.

We didn't find anyone there. Looking out the windows I could see that the Condor was parked on some Terra. The sun hung near the top of the sky so I figured it was about mid-day. There was a note on the table.

Junko stood at the windows. "Were back in Atmos," Junko said, sounding slight amazed. "On Terra Atmosia."

I winced slightly at the observation. Part of me was still hoping that we had never left Atmos in the first place.

I picked the note off the table.

_**Guys, **_

_**Piper and I have gone to the SkyKnight council to discuss safeguarding the door and strengthening the blockades on the Endless Caverns. Get some rest in the meanwhile.**_

_**-Aerrow**_

I tossed it back on to the table. _Fine, _I thought to myself. _Let them do their battle plans_. _The rest of us will mourn. _I sat down on the sofa and wondered if Stork even knew what had happened. Where was Stork anyways? I voiced my thoughts to Junko.

"Do you think we should go look for him?" he replied.

I shrugged. "We've got nothing better to do."

******

The first place we stopped was Stork's room. I knocked on the door, but there was no response. I knocked again.

"Guess he's not here," said Junko.

We looked in the lab (it looked Piper was starting another crystal experiment), the kitchen (where Junko and I got ourselves a snack -what? We hadn't eaten since last night) the hanger (even though we had just been there), and finally we found him in the blacksmith room.

Stork was sitting at the work bench tinkering half-heartedly with some metal thing-a-bob. He poked the strange metal contraption and it beeped then feel over and split in into pieces.

"Umm Stork?" I said. He hadn't seemed to notice our entrance. He turned around.

"Oh. Hi." he said gloomily. Oh yeah, I thought tiredly, he knew about Radarr.

There was a long pause as nobody seemed to know what to say next.

"Ummm…" I said trying to break the silence. I scratched my head absent-mindedly but I had no idea what to say. The silence stretched longer.

"We should , uh, probably make a burial…or something." said Stork quietly staring at the floor.

Junko was also staring at the floor. "He deserves one." he said. "He was a true Storm Hawk." He sniffed. "And friend."

"Yeah," I agreed .

More silence.

"Hey," I said, trying to lighten things up. "Remember that time we got lost in the Great Expanse? And Radarr was the only one who out-lasted the siren?" I chuckled lightly. The others looked up. "All he wanted to do was drive the ship!"

The others smiled timidly.

"And, heh, when that Nightcrawler with Farside technology got on board the ship-" said Stork.

I laughed harder. "-and we were cowering like babies!"

Stork chuckled. "But Radarr just jumped in front of us, ready to fight."

"And then it turned out that the crystal was _allergic!" _I finished the story and we were all laughing. I think we were slightly slaphappy. Remembering Radarr's antics had partially lifted the gloom around us, yet somehow remembering made me feel even sadder too.

Slowly our chuckles died down and the melancholy vibe settled back in.

"We should throw a party."

It was me who said it.

"A party?" asked Junko. "But.. ..we can't celebrate his death…"

"Not his death, Junko." I said . The more I thought about my idea the more I liked it. "We'll be celebrating his life. His memory. It'll be a party for Radarr."

Which, I knew, was also kind of dumb considering that he wouldn't be attending, but heck, I'd rather have people party in my memory then dress in black and dig a hole.

Footsteps suddenly sounded from behind me. Junko and me turned around just as Aerrow and Piper came up behind us.

"What are you guys going doing?" asked Aerrow.

"We want to have a party." said Junko. "For Radarr."

"Huh." said Aerrow. "We'll that's funny. Cause they're throwing a party for us too."

"Who's throwing us a party?" I asked.

"Atmos."

*********

Had my teammate not just died, I probably would have been a lot more stoked that Atmos was throwing us a party next week.

Like, the most major of parties in the history of parties.

_For us._

The five of us…..

"They want to reward us for helping to defeat Cyclonia. The council also said that would declare us as an official squadron before the celebrations. " Aerrow's voice sounded slightly amused at the last part. I guess it was kind of funny; we'd done a million missions and foiled the Cyclonian's plans over and over again. We had done things that had never been done before by any other squadron. We had taken down the likes of Snipe, Ravess, the Dark Ace and tangled with Cyclonis herself! It seemed redundant to be made 'official' now.

Not to mention we were pretty much legal age anyways.

"What about the door?" asked Stork.

Piper answered. "The door is going to be safe guarded on a small outpost terra not far. I'm going to help set up the defences along with some other Skyknights."

"And the caverns?" asked Junko.

"We contacted the Neck Deeps on Terra Aquanos. They've already begun reinforcing the barriers. Cyclonis won't be getting through that way."

"If," added Aerrow smiling at Piper. "She even knows about the tunnels."

"Unless that Domiwick told her." I said recalling how he had stolen Piper's breather and swan off into the tunnel.

"D'you think he survived?" asked Junko. "That the tunnels really led to the Other Side?"

" I doubt it." said Piper casually. "And even if he did make it to the Farside how would he find the city? He probably got picked off by some creature. He's not much of a fighter that Domiwick ."

I gaped at her.

"Now if you excuse me," she continued. " I have preparations to attend to."

And like that she turned and left. I was a little stunned. I'd never heard Piper talk like that about Domiwick . I mean, I knew she didn't like him, but she had spoken so …_nonchalantly. _She hadn't sounded sad, or angry, just…nonchalant. Like she really didn't care.

It occurred to me that maybe she didn't. Maybe she was over that incident.

_He's not much of a fighter…_

Stork also looked a little perplexed and Junko confused. But I could see from the Wallop's face he had quickly forgotten the incident as he turned to Aerrow and asked what they should do for Radarr's funer- er..._party._

**A/N:Because I said I'd upload the next part soon. And I really don't want to study for chem. Besides, the good stuff is just starting to unfold and I'm excited. But first were gonna have to spend some time in Finn's POV. Keep reading plz! And thanks for all the comments! **


	7. He Always Knew

**Part 7: He Always Knew.. ****(Radar Senses)**

**Finn's POV continued...**

During the next week things were rather awkward around the Condor.

Junko was unstable. He looked like he was constantly on the verge of breaking into tears, which he sometimes did. Stork was gloomier than usual, and, because we had no where to go, spent most of his time in the black smith room or his room doing whatever it was he did. I didn't see a lot of Aerrow or Piper, but when I did, they were unreadable. Piper seemed…off. She got lost twice more (thankfully not near my room) and spent a lot of time studying charts and whispering to Aerrow. Aerrow on the other hand spent his time practicing sky fu, or going on flights alone, doing leader stuff I guess.

Sometimes he or Piper would go on errands for a couple of hours but a lot of the time he seemed to hang around the Condor, his face dark.

As for me, I lazed around a lot. Except when I was getting the 'party' supplies ready. We had Radarr's party on the fourth night. Junko, Stork and I managed to enjoy ourselves a little and Aerrow and Piper had a timid smile every so often.

We told stories.

I talked about the time Radarr had knocked out Ravess' exopod and destroyed her carrier ship in the process.

Stork recalled when Radarr had piloted the ship out of the Great Expanse.

Junko remembered when we'd ended up at Sky's End and Radarr had gotten the baby dragons to help fight the Murk Raiders.

Aerrow closed his eyes when it came to his turn. "I remember..." he said slowly.." He opened his eyes and recounted when he and Radarr had escaped from Terra Zartacla and how Radarr had reconstructed a trashed skimmer. He said the story awkwardly , but I didn't blame him. He'd been closer to Radarr than any of this. Oddly enough, I hadn't seen him cry though. I mean it's not like I expected him to bawl or anything but…

I supposed he just didn't want us to see. I didn't like people to see me cry either.

I also hadn't seen Piper cry, but she was in her room so often I figured she also just wanted some privacy.

Piper paled when it came to her turn.

"Umm…," she said unsurely at her spot at the table. She looked down at the various snacks on the table including a bowl of half-bitten sandcakes (which tasted awful 'cause Piper had gotten the recipe wrong for some reason) around a picture of our blue friend.

"I don't really.. want to talk about it ," she said awkwardly. She glanced over at Aerrow.

"C'mon Piper," said Junko. "Just a tiny story."

"Umm," she said slowly. "I remember when…well when, uh, Cyclonis pretended to be Lark and came on the ship…" her eyes darted to Aerrow who gave a tiny nod. She continued. "And…well...I'm pretty sure Radarr knew Lark couldn't be trusted from the beginning."

We all nodded and mumbled in agreement. Radarr had known that 'Lark' could not be trusted. Then she'd cloaked him so we couldn't see him. After being covered in Junko's Yorka juice (ew) we'd played that bizarre game of charades that had finally led us to the truth.

"He always had a gift for knowing when someone couldn't be trusted." I said smiling sadly. "He was just good at picking those things up. Like..." and then I laughed, "Like a real radar."

Junko smiled, "He always knew," he said sentimentally.

Piper chuckled. "He really did." she agreed_. " He really did."_

"To Radarr," said Aerrow raising his glass. We all raised ours.

"To Radarr!"

*******************

Now, you wouldn't think the Skyknight Council knew how to throw a party but man, did they ever!

There were bands, games, some small rides like the ones you find at carnivals, face painting, vendors, etcetera, etcetera. I realized that this party wasn't just for us- the whole Atmos was celebrating the fall of Cyclonia. Our victory. Our awsomeness.

But before we could have any fun Aerrow led us into the Skyknight Council's place (I have no idea what you call the actual building but I didn't really care either) so we could be deemed an official squadron, just as promised.

We pushed open the giant wooden doors and entered the room. I expected it to be quiet like it was last time but it wasn't. Lined up along the sides were reporters and photographers. The air of business was spoiled by the flashes of cameras.

I smiled. Apparently our inauguration was going to be a big thing. Like, front cover news big. Maybe we'd get interviewed!

Another bright flash went off and I waved to the audience. I was glad I'd chosen to wear my nice uniform (the one that had been custom made by Giovanni). Carver really did have a good sense of style. I mean, except for the whole traitor thing. That wasn't cool. But the uniform was. And I was cool in it. Not that I'm not cool out of it.

I'm just even cooler in it.

A pretty girl in a faded pink shirt with light-blond hair in an up-do was among the reporters. I smiled and winked at her, cocking my hands like pistols, in my signature 'Chica-cha' move. She giggled cutely.

_Oh, yeah._

The Skyknight council sat above at the raised platform smiling and whispering among themselves. They turned when they saw us entered. The head of the council sat upfront and smiled as he pushed his little glasses up higher on his face.

"Welcome Storm Hawks," his said loudly with arms wide open. The press reduced their speech to hushed whispers.

"I want to start off by saying that all of Atmos feels greatly beholden to you."

"Beholden?" I whispered to Stork. _What does beholden mean?_

"You have played a significant role in the recent events. The defeat of Cyclonia could not have been possible without your leadership. _And-_" he added in a lighter tone, "You have also had the great fortune of travelling to the Farside _itself." _He said the words with reverence. "The council looks forward to hearing of your discoveries."

"Trust me, your Headship," said Aerrow looking serious as ever. "It's not all that great."

The Head Councillor cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I understand. None the less, a full report will be in order."

I felt a small, sharp stabbing pain in my stomach; The council knew about what had happened - why we were five instead of six.

"But, for now," he continued, "more joyous celebrations are in order."

He motioned for the another councillor to bring forth a large red book. The head councillor opened it to a bookmarked page. He looked it over once and then dipped a feather pen in ink.

"All your positions and team name are already here from last time. I personally regret not having this done earlier. You proved yourselves along time ago." He said pushing up his glasses. He bent forward to hand down the pen to Aerrow.

Aerrow took two steps forward. He smiled wryly as he took the feather.

The Councillor turned the book around and held it over the edge of the platform.

The room became quieter. The sounds of cameras clicking as their flashes continued to go off were more noticable.

For some reason, I suddenly felt tense. All my muscles went taut.

I was super aware of each curve of Aerrow's wrist, twitch of the feather, each letter pressed onto the page…With each inked letter I felt…dread? Anxious? Something.

Aerrow smiled slyly as he raised the pen from the book. The room erupted in cheers. I smiled and whooped with others, my dread almost forgotten entirely.

We were official now. We would be in the record books for generations to come: Aerrow, Piper, Stork, Junko and me.

The five of us.

The Storm Hawks.

______________________

**About eight days earlier….**

It was evening in the Farside.

The sun was orange and the horizon was pink, bordering on red. The sun was drowning in the pink. Sinking slowly beneath the red cloud waves, never quite entirely covered, but touched by them none the less.

A tiny battered body lay bruised on the ground. The clearing around her was not much. A clear stretch of bare rock surrounded by trees and dense plants. A broken ( and beyond repair) heliscooter lay in dented pieces next to a large outcropping.

An even smaller creature whined quietly next to her. He nudged her shoulder once. Twice. The whine became more pronounced. The girl did not respond. The creature began to howl.

There was a low groan.

"Uhhh-cut it out Radarr."

Radarr stopped howling and chirped happily.

The dark skinned girl groaned as she slowly lifted herself into a sitting position.

Everything ached terribly!

She put a hand to head and swayed from side to side before being able to focus.

She focused.

Her head snapped up.

"Aerrow?" she called. Her voice came out weak.

She looked around the clearing, a sense of dread rising in the pit of her stomach. There was nothing, as much as she could see, but herself, Radarr, and the Frankenstein of metal that had once been her ride.

"Aerrow!?" She yelled again, rising unsteadily. Radarr looked at her concernedly, worried she would fall. Nobody responded to her was quiet, except for the sound of insects and a breeze rustling through the trees.

The girl, Piper, stared hard at the ground. Her dark hands curled into fists at her sides and she quavered ever so slightly.

"What have you done, Cyclonis?" she whispered under her breath. She looked up at the sky.

"_What have you done?!" _It echoed off the rocks.

The sun had just about set then, bathing the clearing in shadows.

Radarr whined sadly, and sniffed. He could not bear the pain of his missing best friend silently any longer. He let out a long, anguishing howl. It too, bounced off the rocks and was caught by the cold growing wind, and swept into nothing.

**

* * *

**


	8. An Unfortunate Number of Sheilds

**Part 8: An Unfortunate Number of Sheilds (Still Finn's POV)**

Steeping out of the council doors I felt like a new man. Stronger. Awsome-ener.

More cameras were outside waiting for us and a group of fans were cheering. I recognized some faces. Dove of Terra Gale and her weird grandfather Wren, the Third Degree Burners, some Blizzarians, some cute babes….

A familiar purple-hair women in her early twenties was walking towards us.

"Congratulations," said Starling and she shook Aerrow's hand.

"Thanks Starling," he replied.

"You'll be coming to the Commemoration Assembly won't you?"

"Of course," said Aerrow.

"Commemo what?" asked Junko.

"The Commemoration Assembly," said Piper. "Their going to honour all the Squadrons."

"Oh," I said. "Cool."

********

The Commemoration Assembly was being held outside in the town square. A large outdoor stage was set up. Thick red curtains were drawn across the back half of the stage, while rows and rows of chairs were lined up in front of it. A red carpet lined the aisle that divided the mass of chairs in half. The whole stage and seating area was fenced off with poles and chain. Outside the pole and chain fence were bystanders and reporters all eager to hear the ceremony and get a look at us amazing fighters.

I was busy talking to Junko when a loud high pitched squeal was set off by the microphone. The guilty party, a lanky brown haired dude, was cringing next to the mike. Everyone put their hands over their ears and groaned as our brains turned to mush.

The man on stage cleared his throat. "Um ..er hello? Is this thing on?" his voice could barely be heard. He tapped the mike in front of the podium a couple times and the feedback was even worse.

_Oh come on I thought, _covering my ears again.

Finally, the feedback died and the mike started working right.

"Hello, er, and welcome to the first SkyKnight Commemoration Assembly."

The crowd was quiet. Somebody coughed.

"Ummm…I uh…would like to begin by, uh, introducing the esteemed SkyKnight council." He motioned to his left as the SkyKnight council walked up the stairs and onto the stage while the crowd duly clapped.

The Head Councillor raised his hand for silence as he stood behind the podium while the other guy fiddled with the mike trying hopelessly to get it to the right height.

"Welcome all of you to Atmosia," said the councillor. "As you know today is a very great day. However, before we can begin the celebrations we would like to take some time now, to remember and pay our respects to all our fallen brethren and sisters." He turned around and gestured to the red curtain behind him. The stage dude pulled a rope hanging from one of the poles that were part of the back frame of the stage. The curtains opened up, revealing a short wall with a painting on it. The painting was a silhouette of a SkyKnight on a skimmer. There were a lot of hooks on it, but for what I couldn't figure. It seemed a little grand for a coat rack.

The councillor picked up a list and began to read.

"In remembrance of the Knights of Xerxes," he said.

A dark skinned man in the front row, dressed in regal dark violet and wearing armour came up the stairs holding a shield. He put it up on the wall on of the hooks then stood back. On the shield was a large metal X.

"May good fortune come to their successors." The councillor said and he nodded to the man in purple who subtly nodded back. The man in purple then went back to his seat.

The councillor read off the sheet again.

"In remembrance of the Squadron of Terra Bluster ." Another person came up with a shield to place on the wall.

"Now free from Cyclonia's rule, may it prosper once more."

And so it went on. The wall filled up.

"In remembrance of the Interceptors of Terra Mesa, all lost, with the exception of SkyKnight Starling."

I craned my head to get a better look as Starling solemnly walked up the stairs and placed the shield on the wall. She saluted to it quietly and as she turned I could just barely see the tiny tear trickling down her cheek before she came down to her seat. I wondered how she managed it- to keep going even after losing her squadron. Losing one member was hard enough, but my whole team? I tensed, it occurred to me that my team was more than just a team; they were, like, my family.

I watched as Starling sat down quietly, and non-conspicuously rubbed her eyes. I felt a little more respect for her.

"In remembrance of the Tempest Falcons," the councillor continued. _Tempest Falcons_? I thought. _Where have I heard that name before? _Probably Piper rambling off about them sometime but I guessed I hadn't been paying attention.

No one rose from the crowd to bring up the shield. Instead, one of the councillor members brought it out and placed the battered looking thing on the wall.

"Fallen and lost." the councillor said simply. He looked back down at his sheet.

"In remembrance of the original Storm Hawks, and their successors' Mission Specialist, Radarr."

Something heavy and alive dropped it to my stomach, like I'd just swallowed some of Junko's cooking. I looked on surprised as Aerrow picked up a shield at his feet (_why hadn't I noticed the shield and why hadn't anyone told me that we were actually part of the ceremony?) _and ascended the stairs and placed the shield on the wall. Quickly he turned around and came back down; for a second I thought I glimpsed him sneering but I wasn't sure.

"In remembrance of The Accipiters of Terra Nimbus,"

_Oh, _I definitely knew them. My stomach did a little summersault as faded images of a home, a house, a life gone flashed in my head. The image of a terra in the distance turning blue with fire. Blue striker crystal mine, Piper had said. Nimbus had had a lot of crystal mines ( made it a big target for the Cyclonains). A particular mine filled with highly unstable blue strikers had been hit during a battle. Caused a chain reaction wih some of the other mines. Almost a quatre of the terra…And of course whatever hadn't been blown up was taken over…

And then us. Me, Piper and Aerrow, on a little heliscooter, barely afloat, trying to get away.

The blast had knocked us back so hard…

I glanced over at Aerrow and Piper to see their reactions. Piper was stoic, and Aerrow was frowning. I looked back up at the stage as another councillor put up another shield.

I didn't think it was possible but the list of the fallen went on a little more. The councillor listed terras and squadrons that I had never heard of ( and I guess they were unheard of for same reason they were being listed).

Finally, when the last hook on the wall the councillor motioned for us to stand.

"Please rise now," the councillor said, "as we bow our heads in silence for both our fallen comrades and enemies. No matter their allegiance, many warriors and civilians alike have suffered in this long, and costly war."

And so we did. We stood. We bowed our heads. We were silent. Even the bystanders and reporters were quiet. The square which had been loud and noisy a second ago was hushed by the remembering. I kept my chin down and eyes shut. I was thinking about Radarr and I still couldn't believe the little guy was gone. And after watching the ceremony, well, we hadn't been the only one to suffer loses. Of course, I'd known that though. I just didn't like to think-

"You can sit down now Finn," Junko whispered to me.

I looked up startled. Everyone else had already sat down and I was the only one still standing. Feeling like a moron, I quickly dropped down to my seat.

"Y-yeah, I know," I said to Junko. "Just paying my respects that's all." I folded my arms over my chest while Junko smiled at me. _Well how was I supposed to know when to sit back down?_

"Now," said the Head Councillor. "Our second announcement is of much lighter news."

_Finally, _I thought to myself. _Good news. _

"After much thought and discussion with our historians we have decided that for the record books, this time shall be declared as a new age. The anniversary of Ex-Skyknight Carver's betrayal _and _his defeat by the resurrected Storm Hawks will mark the beginning of this new age." He raised up his hands to the sky.

"The Age of Heroes!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

* * *

**A/N: Why, you may ask, did I choose Terra Nimbus as Aerrow, Finn's and Piper supposed home (before Neverlandis that is) ? Well originally I'd just made up a terra but then I found the original SH plot line** ( search up jetixtv storm hawks) **which places Terra Nimbus as "Sparrow's" (Aka Aerrow's) home. Which makes sense with the show, cause when Grimsley (the dude with orange hair who bullies them) calls the Cyclonians it's Snipe that shows up (fairly quick too) and Snipe was the one given control over Terra Nimbus. Hence I decided to use Terra Nimbus. The website has also influenced a couple of other ideas I had for this story. **

**As for the last chapter- most of you have guessed correctly what's going on. There's no alternate dimensions or parallel universes- nothing that complicated!**

**Anyway I'll probably upload again tommorow. I started writing this chapter and more and more stuff just kept getting thrown so I've split it into two. Story gets slower before it gets better. **


	9. Demonstration

**Chapter 9: Demonstration **

**(Yes I'm still in Finn's POV gonna be here for a bit longer kay?)**

After the ceremony everyone dispersed into crowds. Reporters, fans, and friends rushed to meet me, well us, and at first I was happy with the attention.

That is, till the reporters started asking questions about the Farside.

"What was it like? What did you see?"

"Did you find Cyclonis?"

"Are you currently single?" (Okay that one had nothing to do with the Farside)

"Does the door really lead there?"

"What _exactly _happened to your Mission Specialist?"

My face fell, and for once in my life, I didn't want to say anything.

"No comment," I mumbled and tried to shuffle my way out through the people and ignore the flashes of cameras. My friends had already disappeared into the mass of people. Luckily, though, a Wallop and a Merb aren't exactly hard to spot.

******

Later, at dusk, after the huge barbecue dinner ( hmmmm hot dogs) we sat around at our table in the dining pavilion (the section for Skyknights and their squadrons _only) _and talked about, er, Salad Mites. Well, it was mostly Stork and me talking. Arguing actually. (I mean c'mon- Salad Mites? No. Such. Thing.) Junko was looking nervously at the salad bar, and Aerrow just sitting back and listening, smiling. Piper had gone to talk to the SkyKnight council or something again.

And then we started arguing about Mind Worms and somehow we got onto the topic of my socks when a large shadow eclipsed us. I turned around and, as much as I hate to admit it, I cringed.

Now, even though one of my closest friends is a Wallop, there's nothing quite like staring up at the huge horned face of a guy who can snap you in two without breaking a sweat.

And this guy was _big. _He was grey in skin colour with brownish hair and wearing one of those kilt/wrap thingies Wallops traditionally wear.

"May I speak to Junko of Wallop ?"he asked in a deep, gruff voice.

Stork, Aerrow, and me looked over at Junko, whose face turned serious. Rising from the table, he looked like a real warrior- not the usual softy I was used to.

He and the other Wallop went over to the more unlit part of the dining facility and started talking. I glanced over at Stork who shrugged, and then out of the corner of eye noticed the other diners. Doing a 360 look around I noticed that almost everyone was staring at Junko and the other Wallop. Those who weren't staring whispered among themselves.

I couldn't help but scowl- it felt as though they were whispering and staring at me personally, not just my friend.

"Why are they all staring?" I asked, almost sneering.

"They don't trust them."

Surprised, I looked over to my right where Piper had appeared.

"What?"

"When the fight broke out the Wallops sided with Cyclonia." she said looking at Junko and the other guy. " The rest of the Atmos isn't going to overlook that." Her words had a sort of cold truth.

"But that's not fair!" I said. "What about the Wallop Resistance? Not all of them sided with Cyclonia."

Piper shrugged. I glanced back over and noticed Junko coming back . He sat down looking kinda distressed.

"What's the problem Junko?" asked Aerrow.

"Terra Wallop's not doing so well." he replied , ears drooping, like a sad puppy. " Thragg won't step down as leader, but a lot of the other Wallops think he should after he chose to support the Cyclonians. There's a lot of talk about challenging him."

"But," said Stork, voice quivering as always, "doesn't only _one_ survive the Ritual of Power?"

I shivered inwardly. The dumb Wallop tradition of kill or be killed. At least I was pretty sure that the ritual implied killing the other guy. When Junko had challenged Thragg the last and first time I'd visited Terra Wallop- well, we were all surprised to see them both come back out.

Junko nodded solemnly.

"But some of the Wallops don't want to use the ritual."

"Well that's a good thing isn't it?" I said.

"Wallop traditions are deep Finn. You can't just change them. There's a lot of arguing going on. Some of the Clan members want me to come back to Terra Wallop. The other Terras might trust them more if I was there."

"Maybe you should then," said Piper. "You might really be able to help."

But I didn't like that idea at all. I wanted to Junko to stay with us. He was my - er, our friend!

Junko didn't answer- we were interrupted by the sounds of boots padding against pavement and buckles and armour clinking. A group of people were marching towards our table. The Rex Guardians, the Third Degree Burners, the Rebel Ducks, Starling etc. etc. and a mush of other people I couldn't name.

Blister, Skyknight of the Burners, was the one spoke.

"Listen mates, sorry to bother ya, but,uh…" he paused for a second as we looked at him. "Well, we heard about how you defeated Cyclonis"- _like who hadn't? I thought to myself- _" and we's were wondering… _how_ exactly did you do it?"

"Yes indeed," said Harrier butting in. "What _is _this _Binding_? How does one perform it?"

Piper and Aerrow looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

"We don't really know," said Piper looking back to the crowd.. The group looked sceptical. "It's hard to explain." She added.

"A demonstration then?" asked Harrier, and other mumbled in agreement.

Aerrow and Piper looked at each other again.

"I guess… an example couldn't hurt," said Aerrow smiling at Piper.

Piper's lip curled up at one side into a half smile. "Alright." she said. " A demonstration then."

We followed Aerrow and Piper to an relatively clear part of the pavilion. The rest of us stood back to give them some room. Piper reached it into a pouch at her waist (for the first time I noticed she was wearing a weird brown belt with several small bags on it ) and pulled out a pinkish crystal that I'd never seen her use before.

She pulled it out and pointed it at Aerrow who stood a couple feet away.

"Falcon's Flight!"

A blinding blue light shot out of the crystal (followed by a few gasps and awes) and struck Aerrow, who shot up into the sky. The blue light that was emitting off of Aerrow was also around Piper. She looked up proudly as Aerrow performed tricks in the air, somersaulting and showing off through the night air. The crowd looked genuinely amazed and puzzled. I knew of course, they were all trying to figure out how _they _might be able to do it.

Which was a good question actually. I didn't even know how the Binding worked. But it did look pretty cool.

"Why does Aerrow get to have all the fun?" I said to Junko and Stork beside me. _Piper could use the Binding on me, _I thought to myself. _Except for that whole 'perfect attunement' thing. And what da heck is 'perfect attunement'anyways? Sounds kinda cheesy. _But I didn't say this out loud.

After one last flip Aerrow landed back on the ground and the blue auras disappeared.

Some people clapped and others started talking, asking questions.

"Whhoey!" said Suzy-Lu chewing her bubble gum . "That was some fancy flyin!" She blew a large bubble that soon popped.

"Marvelous," commented Harrier. "But how?"

"Like we said," Aerrow remarked walking up beside Piper and facing the crowd. "We really don't know."

Harrier frowned, but he wasn't the only one. 'I don't know' has never really been a satisfying reply to any question.

_Why is the sky blue? _I don't know.

_What's extortion? _I don't know.

_Where do babies come from? _Terra of babies of course.

_Really? Where's that? _I don't know_. _

But that was the only answer the crowd got.

"Now," said Piper, turning her back on the crowd and beginning to walk away. "If you don't mind, my team and I need our rest."

I snorted quietly to myself. Rest? I was wired to go! Since when did she speak for the team? But I always got annoyed whenever Piper told me to do anything. I would've argued that I wasn't ready to go back to the Condor (I still hadn't won a prize at the Duck Shooting booth -_you know _the game where the fake ducks fly around and you shoot them) but then Aerrow backed her up saying we were all quite tired, and I decided just not to argue. Junko was already yawning anyways.

Back at the Condor, Piper immediately went to her room to go to sleep. Junko did as well, but not before nearly dozing off in the hallway. Seeing as there wasn't much to talk about Aerrow, Stork and me also went to bed.

Piper was right actually ( though I swore I would never admit it). I really was tired. After I changed clothes, I flopped down on my bed and was out like a light. Had I known what a rude awakening I was in for, I would have locked the door.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Yes, I know, last chap I said would try to double upload and here I am a week later finally was supposed to be part of the last one but then the last chap would have been HUGE. Some notes bout this chap:**

**1. Ritual of Power: I don't know if it is 'to the death' but I went back and watched "A Wallop for All Seasons" and that was the vibe I got. They don't actually say 'kill' (cause that would upset the kiddies wounldn't it?) but it seemed pretty serious. **

**2. When 'Piper' does the binding with Aerrow, she says 'Falcon's Flight ' and the auras are blue but her crystal is pink. I've noticed this with both Cyclonis and Piper; they seem to use about 3 different crystals top and one crystal seems to do a bunch of different things. But the colours don't correspond. I have no idea how that works, whether it's a muiltitask crystal or the creators just got lazy. Personally? ...**

**"I find that wildly inconsistent." - Noob**


	10. Rude Awakenings

**Author's Note: Hey guys! This was supposed to be earlier but alas, I was unable to log in. Alot of you have some questions and luckily I have answers!Long drawn out answers. To go with a long drawn out chap.**

**To StormPanther:The way Piper does the binding is different from how Cyclonis does the binding. Originally Piper didn't know how to do it so she ended up sick till she became 'perfectly attuned' with Aerrow. Cyclonis and the DA were not 'perfectly attuned' but Cyclonis never became sick so I assume her method doesn't require any 'deep connection' with the partner. Assumingly, she can use it on anyone.**

**Starhunterz: Real Piper and Radarr action is coming up BUT first we have to go through stuff happening on this side of Atmos. You'll see why :)**

**Romanticist Caveman:Yes, I have noticed I tend to rely heavily on dialogue so for this chapter I tried to stay away from that. And I failed miserably. Actually I think it's almost all dialogue O.o I blame it on Finn. Sorry if the perspective shifts are confusing- and heads up there will be more of them. Many. As for the 8 days ago flashback, (I'm suprised you're the only one who asked about that) it take place right after they're ambushed by Cyclonis and Piper is just waking up. **

**To CheeseInACan67: Thanks so much for your review (on this and Fluff). I hate to single out anyone's review (they're all AWSOME) but yours really made my day so thank you.**

**Enjoy you guys!**

**

* * *

****Part 10: Rude Awakenings**

"Finn! Wake up! You lazy-!"

The covers around me tightened and pulled, and suddenly 'FLOP!' I was on the floor entangled in my bed sheets. My eyes flickered open.

"Huh- What? What's happening? Are we under attack?" I desperately tried to untangled myself. Piper stood menacingly over me.

"What were doing in my room last night?!" She accused me.

"What?" I asked dumbly. What time was it anyway? Way too early for Piper's nagging.

"_Someone _was in my room last night!" she shouted angrily. She pointed a gloved finger at me. "What were you doing?"

"Sleeping a couple minutes ago-" I responded irritably.

"Argh! I meant in my room you-"

"Hey! I wasn't _in_ your room!" I shouted trying to get up, but I fell down again after my foot got caught in the blankets. Piper freaking on me was one thing; Piper freaking on me when I hadn't even DONE ANYTHING was another.

"I know it was you, _Finn_." she hissed my name. She held out a clenched hand way too close to my face for my eyes. "I found this!" I pulled back my head and stared at the thing in her fist. It was a lock of blond hair.

"So?" I said finally managing to stand up. "That doesn't prove anything."

She growled and threw the hair on the ground, then advanced towards me. "You had better tell me right now what-"

"Piper!" Aerrow was suddenly in the doorway.

Piper froze, then looked at the ground, still clenching her fists. "_Sor-ry." _she muttered without glancing at me before marching out of my room.

Aerrow and I looked at each other. "What's her problem?" I asked annoyed and aching. Falling on floor = not fun.

"Someone was in her room last night." said Aerrow arms folded over his chest. He looked me in the eye. " _Did _you do anything?" he asked, not accusingly, but more concerned than anything else.

"No!" I responded irritably even though he was being nice about it. "Sheesh! Can't a guy at least have breakfast around here before being arrested?"

"Had to ask Finn," he stated before turning back down the hall. I sighed. So much for sleep. I looked at the blond piece of hair on the floor and curiously picked it up. I walked over to my mirror and then held up the lock of hair. I gasped aloud shrinking back from the mirror. _Oh,_ it was my hair alright. I could see the spot where it'd been cut.

"Oh maaan. " I groaned, analyzing my complexion again.

I held the lock up into the spot where it been separated.

"Maybe if I used glue…?"

****

The real trouble started later that afternoon. I was walking down the halls headed to the kitchen, hungry for some leftover pizza (do you know how rare it is to have leftover pizza? There's usually never anything left over ) when suddenly I was forcibly grabbed from behind and thrown into a room.

I landed on my face of course. The floor and I were well acquainted that day.

"_Alright," _I murmured into the ground pushing myself up . "What's the big - Junko?" I looked up at the Wallop standing in front of me. He smiled bashfully and helped yank me up. I turned around to see Stork and the door hissing shut behind him.

"Stork!" I said. "You can't just grab people and -" The Merb jumped forward and clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Shh!" he said putting his finger to his lips. His eyes then darted from left to right and he looked around the room as though someone else might have been there.

"Keep your voice down," he said "we don't want anyone else to hear."

We all stood in a circle. Well triangle really cuz there was three of us so like three points and that makes a triangle not a circle and -what? _It's relevant. _Anyways…

"What I'm about to tell you is very disturbing but critical," said Stork twiddling his fingers. Junko and I looked at each other. _Here we go again with the mind worms._

Stork looked around the room again before leaning in close to us, lowering his voice to a raspy whisper. " I think…" We leaned in expectant. _"I think…"_

"_Piper. Is . An impostor."_

I snorted and laughed. Stork looked at me reproachfully. Junko just looked confused, maybe worried.

"I 'm serious Finn," He growled and grabbed my shoulder to stop me from laughing.

I waved it off. "C'mon Stork. An impostor?" Did he hear how ridiculous he sounded?

He sighed (or growled) exasperated.

"So she's not herself lately," I admitted. "So what?" People get out of sorts for all kinds of reasons. Girls especially.

"She's _not _herself because she i_sn't_ herself." argued Stork. "Haven't you noticed the way she's been acting. Aloof. Angry. _Cold?"_

I stopped for a moment. I didn't know what aloof meant, but I had notice a bit of dip in personality. But how could I really tell? She hadn't been around much.

"But Stork," asked Junko timidly. He looked upset. "If you really do think Piper is…not Piper….why isn't Aerrow here? Shouldn't he know too?"

"Think about it," said Stork tapping his head. "In the Farside, Aerrow and Piper went on recon together. If anything had happened to the _real _Piper, don't you think _he_ would have _noticed?"_

"Wait- you're saying Aerrow's an impostor too?" I said incredulous. It was really too much.

"He hasn't exactly been himself lately either." replied Stork.

"Well duh!" I exclaimed. "In case you're forgetting what happened to Radarr-Of course he's not his usual self."

He looked ashamed or something for forgetting that Aerrow had been closest to Radarr and therefore, most affected by his…um...passing on.

"Maybe." he admitted. "_Maybe not."_

"Umm Guys?" interrupted Junko quietly.

"Stork, you've had a lot of crazy ideas but _this _takes the cake. "

"Crazy? Huh." he replied. "What's so crazy about it? Remember Princess Peregrine?"

"Guys?" Junko said, louder this time.

"That was only for a little while! We noticed the switch right away. " I mentioned. Yeah. _Right_ _after the ship's crystal energy source failed and we nearly fell out of the sky._

"Guys!" Junko shouted.

"_What?" _we said in union.

"Umm…I'm with Stork on this one." he gave me an apologetic look. " Aerrow and Piper have been acting...kinda weird lately." said Junko, and I was irritated that he hadn't mentioned that thought to me. Friends don't keep suspicions of friends from friends right? " But, um, how can we prove their impostors?"

"With this," replied Stork before I could argue that there was nothing to prove. From his pocket he pulled out a familiar pale green rectangular stone, that had some metal warped around it. It glinted mutely.

"Piper's blocking crystal" I exclaimed at the sight of it. Then I turned on Stork. "_So you _were the one in her room last night! Dude, I got blamed so badly for that!"

"Had to keep her off my trail somehow." said Stork without apologizing.

"You cut my hair!"

"Details." he shrugged.

"So how do we use the crystal?" asked Junko looking at the stone. "Should we use it on them while they're asleep?"

I couldn't believe this. Already they were planning a mutiny.

"Wait wait wait," I interrupted . The others looked at me. They were both forgetting some very important information. "We _saw _Piper do the Binding last night." I explained. " How many other people could have faked-" I stopped suddenly. "….oh."

It _finally_ dawned on me .

"Exactly," said Stork. "The _only_ other person who can do the Binding is-"

"_Master Cyclonis."_

We all jumped, practically hitting the ceiling. There, standing in the doorway was Aerrow (thank Atmos it wasn't Piper). We hadn't even heard the door open. How oblivious were we? And how long had he been standing there?

" Aerrow!" said Stork surprised and somewhat afraid.

"Relax guys," he said walking into Stork's room (yeah did I not mention we were in Stork's room? Not exactly the nicest place on the ship. I came in there once looking for Stork and I ended up dangling from the ceiling in a booby-trap. Not a fond memory.)

"I'm on your side." he added.

The door closed behind him and I made a mental note to listen for it in case it opened again.

"How much have you heard?" inquired Stork.

"Enough." Aerrow replied. "I know that you think Piper is an impostor….I know you guys don't trust me either."

"_Then," _replied Stork darkly_. "_ You understand what we have to do?"

Aerrow nodded.

Stork stepped forward, and we were all quiet. We held our breaths. The tension rose. _It was so dramatic!_

Suddenly Stork thrust the crystal forward in front of Aerrow's chest, shutting his eyes as though expecting a great burst of light.

Nothing happened.

Zilch.

Nada.

Zerra!

Stork looked at the crystal and then Aerrow.

"Well, Stork," I said. "So much for your conspiracy theory."

"Just because he's the real Aerrow doesn't mean Piper's really Piper."

"Uh-huh." I muttered. " And I'm not the _real _Finn."

"Stork has a point." said Aerrow, which caught my attention. "I think he's right about Piper."

I looked at him surprised. "You don't really think..?" He started to explain.

"When were in the Farside, Cyclonis and an army of these _strange_ warriors attacked us. We were completely and Cyclonis disappeared behind some rocks- but it was only for a minute. That was when, um, Radarr….well." he looked down at the ground before continuing. "I was distracted. When Piper reappeared we were so overun by the army we had no choice but to get back to the Condor. I never thought much of it…till last night after we did the Binding."

"What about the Binding?" I asked, worry building.

"It just…didn't feel….right, I guess. Different somehow."

Now I was freaked. Everyone, even Aerrow, was suspicious of Piper. And I couldn't deny she was acting weird.

"So…what do we do now?" asked Junko.

"Let me talk to her first," said Aerrow. "I want to make sure of this before we try to prove anything."

We all nodded.

"If anything's out of place I'll call you onto the main bridge. Stork, be sure to bring the crystal. "

*****

Fifteen minutes later were all standing on bridge waiting for Piper to arrive. Aerrow had talked to her and decided that this was and I quote 'a necesarry precaution.' I was trying to act cool and sceptical like I expected this all to fail. Mostly because, more than anything, I wanted us to be mistaken. It was better than being _right. But I was worried._

I tensed when the door opened.

Piper walked in causally_, smiling_ of all things.

"What's up?" she asked, cheerfully.

"Oh nothing much," said Stork as me and Junko moved so we stood somewhat behind Piper, blocking her nearest exit. She noticed us surround her.

"_Is everything alright?_" she asked in what was probably supposed to be a nervous way. She didn't really sound nervous though. She sounded suspicious.

"Well," said Stork. His hand was clenched behind his back. "That depends…"

Her eyebrow raised and and she looked amused. "On..?"

"This!" he shouted thrusting the crystal forward as he had done with Aerrow.

Something happened this time. Piper began to glow, her form flickered, torn between that of our navigator and-

"Master Cyclonis." The words involuntarily came out of my mouth, and even worse, I sounded afraid.

Piper was gone. She had never been here to begin with. Standing here in our midst, dressed in usual ugly purple tights and stubby cape was Cyclonis herself, grinning.

"_What took you so long?"_

Automatically, I brought out my crossbow and aimed. We all took on fighting stances. Cyclonis didn't look worried at all.

"Where's Piper?" demanded Junko, knuckle busters at the ready. _"_What did you do to her?"

"_Me?" _she said in a false tone of innocence. "_I_ didn't do anything. _You're _the ones who left her in the Farside."

I ground my teeth together, scowling.

She chuckled.

"It wasn't hard you know- fooling you." she said, although _nobody_ had asked her. " I had to use a very specific array of crystals to attain Piper's impression. A work of art really. But, seeing as I am the Master after all…" She smiled, so wholly impressed by herself.

"Although," she continued, taking adavantage of our angry silence. " I'm still surprised you didn't catch on to me sooner." she looked me right in the eye. "_Some friends you really are…"_

Ouch.

"I don't know _why_ Piper was so fond of you all." she went on in her wispy voice ." Perhaps if she'd known how really pathetic you are, she would have joined me when she had the chance. Perhaps then," she laughed lightly, _"She could haved lived."_

"_Liar!" _I shouted and pulled the trigger, forgetting entirely that my bolts were about as efficient as paper-airplanes against Cyclonis. She merely lifted her hand and the arrow halted in mid-air before dissolving into nothing.

"Don't make me laugh," she hissed, and from behind her back she pulled out her crystal staff, topped with that pink-purple jewel. Slowly her form began to glow and she rose above the floor. "The four of you at your best couldn't beat me at _my worst. _As we speak my empire is already rising from the ashes and _you_ and _your precious Atmos_ are going to pay dearly for _what you did." _her voice took on a demonic edge at the last bit, thoroughly confirming my belief that she was part Raptor.

"We'll never surrender." Aerrow announced.

"No," she mused. " Of course you won't. You don't have the brains for that. Besides," she added. "what fun would that be?" she smiled slyly at him.

Then she threw her arms into the air and her crystal staff shined brighter and brighter, till it erupted in a flash of light, blinding us all.

When we opened our eyes she was gone.

Radarr was gone.

Piper was gone.

And everything else was about to go too.


	11. Shame On Me

**A/N; I have waited soo long finally write&post this chap. Of course, it ended up being kinda long cuz of all the formalities I had to put in, and it also kinda jumps around from first person (finn) to the third but that's not too hard to figure out. Don't worry if you're confused by it- explanations come later. I hope you guys get the exodus hint;) otherwise go back and re-watch "Number One Fan".****

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****Chapter: 11 Shame on Me**

"_We'll never surrender." Aerrow announced._

"_No," she mused. " Of course you won't. You don't have the brains for that. Besides," she added. "what fun would that be?" _

_Then she threw her arms into the air and her crystal staff shined brighter and erupted in a flash of light, blinding us all._

_When we opened our eyes she was gone. _

_Radarr was gone._

_Piper was gone._

_And everything else was about to go too._

****

We stood there for a moment looking at the empty space where Cyclonis had disappeared, slowly absorbing what had just happened.

"I can't believe it..." I managed, breaking the stunned silence.

We had been fooled. Tricked. We hadn't been able to tell one of our closest friends from one of our worst enemies.

_Some friends you really are…_

Guilty as charged.

"We have to go back to the Farside," said Junko holding up a curled fist looking very upset. "Piper's still there!"

"_Then lets go," _I said, eagerly slinging my crossbow on my back.

"Problem," said Stork raising a finger, " Without Piper we can't get the Condor through the doorway."

"Then we walk." I insisted. We didn't have time to waste. _Maybe if she'd known how really pathetic you are, she would have joined me when she had the chance. Perhaps then…_

"We should radio Atmosia-" said Aerrow. "We need to warn them about Cyclonis. And tell them we have to open the door."

_Perhaps then…_

Stork quickly moved the controls and turned on the radio, making adjustments. It buzzed with static.

"Come in Terra Atmosia," said Stork into the microphone. "SkyKnight Council? Do you read?"

****

" It's the Storm Hawks," said the uniformed guard, handing over a small walkie-talkie.

The Skyknight took it and held it up to her ear.

"This is Skyknight Starling speaking," She said. "What is it?"

"_We have a problem." _Aerrow's voice responded. _" We have to go back to the Farside."_

"I'm afraid you're a little late," Said Starling. She turned around to look down the underground hallway. Uniformed guards were searching the place high and low. Through the bashed open door at the end she could see a surprisingly undamaged and clear chamber.

"The doorway is gone."

***

Well of course it was, I thought later on. Hadn't 'Piper' been the one mainly responsible for building the defences for the doorway? But Piper had been Cyclonis. So Cyclonis (or more likely her goons) had easily been able to bypass the defences.

I didn't even know Cyclonis still had minions around. I thought having your terra fall into the Wastelands would shake up the regime a little. Starling explained it all later. During that week or so we'd been in the Farside, Cyclonia had been thoroughly searched. Nothing had been found. Books, crystals, weapons, food, people were all not there. Somehow, they'd all managed just to disspappear. One massive exodus, she said.

Exodus? That sounded familiar.

But somebody was still around. Cyclonis must have been communicating with them. And apparently her forces were strong. Strong enough.

_My empire is already rising from the ashes…_

_***_

"So what should we do now?" asked Junko after all the details had been given. We all looked at Aerrow.

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then pressed the radio button again. "Starling, try to find the doorway as fast as possible. We won't be able to help. We have to find another way back to the Farside."

"_But why?" _her accented voice asked over the coms.

"We were tricked." Aerrow responded. "Piper was really Cyclonis. She disguised herself. The _real _Piper still back on the other side."

There was a stunned silence.

"…_.Piper…-was Cyclonis?" _

"Yes."

More silence. Then, _"You should go to the Terradon scientists. They can fix up the Condor to get it to fly over the barrier cliffs."_

"Good idea," said Aerrow. "We'll radio you later."

"_I'll inform the rest of the Skyknights of the situation." _She said, then added, thoughtfully with real concern in her voice. _"Take care Storm Hawks. Find Piper_. And be careful."

"Storm Hawks out." was all Aerrow said. He switched off the radio. "You heard her," he said to Stork. "Terra Bogaton."

***

The ship could not fly fast enough and I was tense as ever. Radarr and Piper. Radarr and Piper. I drummed my fingers nervously on the table on the bridge.

Junko sat across from me looking nervous and worried. "You don't really think...that Cyclonis was telling the truth? I mean, about Piper."

_Perhaps…_

"No way." I said trying to sound confident. "Cyclonis could never beat Piper. I mean- she's Piper right? I'm sure sh-she's fine." My fingers drummed quicker. "Can't this thing go any faster?" I said irritably.

"I've already got it on maximum," said Stork. "She's at her fastest."

She was soo not at her fastest. I'd seen the Condor go faster than this. Mind you ya ended up having to peel yourself from the wall later on but she could go faster.

I sighed irritably. Too annoyed and down to sit with others I silently left.

**_****_**

The Condor soared on, speeding through the sky racing the sun. An hour or so passed. Terra Bogaton grew no closer. In reality, they were moving farther and farther away,

"That's strange," muttered Stork peering through the glass. "We should have reached Terra Bogaton by now. In fact," added, peering suspiciously at the controls, "none of these readings seem quite right." he tapped at time pulse apparatus. "Could you check the wiring Junko?"

Junko nodded, and kneeled on the ground, his larges fingers felt around the edges of a slightly raised panel.

"That's probably unnecessary," stated Aerrow watching him.

The panel ripped off, and Junko looked down into the square hole. He reached searching for something. He pulled out three crystals.

The ships' systems went hay-wire. All the data and readings switched immediately. Dialled up, dialled down, reversed, beeped, blinked, blacked out, lit up, and changed. Stork jumped back from the controls alarmed by their random spasm.

"These weren't supposed to in there." said Junko holding up the crystals.

"Were completely off course!" yelled Stork looking at the new readings. "All of the data was incorrect. Were _miles _away from Terra Bogaton."

"Looks like Cyclonis had one last trick up her sleeve," Aerrow remarked.

Stork grimaced and taking the helm in both hands, turned the ship around, hoping to get it back on course. So much time had been wasted.

***

I felt the ship jog and turn around. Tiredly, I dragged myself up. The nap had helped a little, but now that I was awake the whole seriousness of the situation bore down on me again. Hadn't we reached Bogaton yet? I glanced out the window and just saw clouds. The longer we took to Bogaton the longer it would take to build a ship to go over the Barrier Cliffs, and the longer it took to build a ship to get over the Barrier Cliffs the longer it would take to get to the Farside, and the longer it took to get to the Farside the more of a chance something bad would happen to Piper.

_So what was taking so long?_

Lazily, I strapped my cross bow onto my back and set off to the helm.

When I stepped in, the guys' backs were to me, as they were staring intently through the front windows. Junko stood at Stork's right, the two closest to the windows. Aerrow stood couple feet behind them, to the slight left.

We were going pretty fast, the engine rumbled loudly, like Junko's stomach when he hadn't eaten for a while. I walked in. Over the noise I could barely hear them.

"Engines in hyper mode- we gotta a lot of time to make up for." said Stork.

"Don't worry Piper," said Junko concernedly. "Were coming for you."

There was a very quiet snort.

"_I'm afraid I can't let you do you that." _

And then I watched in cold horror as Aerrow's hand reached behind his back, slowly towards one of his blades.

"_No!" _

I launched myself full force at him. Aerrow turned and we collided rolling on the floor . A sharp kick to my chest and I went flying back. He stood up.

"_What's wrong with you Finn?" _he shouted. The others turned around, confused.

"_Don't act like you don't know." _I said whipping out my cross, which loaded automatically. "You're an impostor!"

"Finn that's ridiculous," he said. "We already established this. Right guys?" he looked over at Stork and Junko.

"_I don't believe you." _I whispered harshly. "I know what I heard!" Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me.

"Stork," said Aerrow calmly, gesturing, "Show him."

Stork looked around hesitantly, then brought out the Blocking crystal, stepping forward he held it out in front of Aerrow.

I watched angrily as nothing happened. But I knew what I heard.

"See?" said Aerrow, "It's really me."

"It's really Aerrow, Finn" said Junko looking at me, his face asking me to put away my bow.

"Blocking crystal says it all." added Stork.

"Exactly." said Aerrow. His tone turned dark. "_Blocking crystal says it all." _

I hesitated for a moment. A moment was all he needed.

Suddenly Aerrow grabbed Stork by the shoulders and threw him into me knocking us to the ground. Aerrow jumped and landed behind Junko blasting him across the room with his blades. Fast as lighting, he turned to the panel and blades a glowing, dug them into the board, ripping the wiring with a horrible metallic screech as the Condor's controls were torn and melted apart. Fire and smoke sizzled. The Condor began to lurch violently.

"No!" yelled Stork.

We gained our footing. 'Aerrow' turned to us with a triumphant smirk.

"_Ride's over." _he grinned. What's it called again? Schizophrenia?

Junko got himself onto his knees and twisted around, looking upset. "But...why?"

The red head snorted. " Because you've been a thorn in my side for too long." and then he whirled his blades building up energy and blasted Junko unconscious.

"Junko!" I yelled and nearly got blasted myself. I jumped behind the table as blue erupted about me. I saw Stork dive for cover behind a outcropping at the side.

I looked above the table and fired at 'Aerrow', but he was too quick and dodged every bolt and suddenly, before I knew it, he was in front of me. I stumbled back, but he grabbed me and whipped me with force my friend did definitely _not_ have. My back slammed against the wall, my cross slipped from my grip. I hit the floor hard.

I opened my eyes but everything was kinda blurry. Slowly my eyes focused in on the red-head-

Who was ripping the sofa-chairs around the table from the floor.

Crack! The sofa came loose. He wielded it over his head.

"What the-?" I managed before BANG!

My insides were crushed beneath the heavy weight of the sofa- not quite entirely, but enough to pin me to the wall and floor. Blinking hard, my vision blurred again, I looked up the towering red-headed look a like. He held on blade quite close to my face.

I could barely breathe, but I had to know. I coughed the dust from my throat.

"Aerrow never came back from that fight, did he?" I asked weakly.

He didn't need me to explain. "No," he said simply. "He didn't." and he raised his blade up to bear the final strike.


	12. Second Time's the Charm

**Warning: I jump around a lot in this chap. I go from Finn's POV to the impostor's, to third person. You guys will know when it changes. You're smart cookies.**

**To Closkstopper: Thanks you for reviewing but I think you are confused by Chapter 9. The Storm Hawsk were on Atmosia, not their home town. **

* * *

"Aerrow never came back from that fight, did he?" I asked weakly.

He didn't need me to explain."No," he said simply. "He didn't." and he raised his blade up to bear the final strike.

**"**_**Get away from my friends!!!"** _

"_Stork?" _I gaped.

The Merb came flying out of nowhere and I watched in shock as the usually cowardly team mate, punched an awesome upper cut into the red head's jaw.

'Aerrow' flew back and down onto the ground. He should have stayed down.

He didn't.

He rose as quickly as he fell and as Stork charged again, the impostor began to glow red oddly enough. He began to wave his blades around, building up momentum.

BOOM! A blast erupted.

Stork flew back into the wall, beside me.

I looked from Stork to the 'Aerrow.'

"What was _that?!" _I yelled_. Cause it sure as Atmos wasn't the Lightning Strike. Unless I've suddenly become color blind._

The Condor turned violently on it's side and everything slid to the right and down.

The impostor stumbled for a second then turned to face the windows. Clouds were whipping past us. Kilometre by kilometre was disappearing.

The impostor gained his footing and headed toward us, a red aura around him.

"Time to end this," he said leaping at us. Stork tried to fight but the 'Aerrow' twisted his arm around his back forcing Stork to his knees.

Okay, I admit, I didn't know much about Merbian traits, and Stork never struck me as the fighting type, but I'd seen him hold back Snipe, and apparently he's taken out Repton and his men all by himself, so the dude's actually pretty strong.

This guy was stronger.

"Who- are you?" I said straining against the sofa. Gravity was helping me, the sofa was sliding.

The impostor smiled at me, stood up, and then threw Stork towards the controls.

He looked back at me.

"I'll give you hint," he said and his voice was a tad deeper and, I shuddered, familiar somehow.

He stuck one of his blades right into the wall beside my head and leaned in close.

"_This is the second time, I've betrayed the Storm Hawks."_

My eyes widened. It took a moment to grasp what he said.

"_But_… that's _impossible_…." I said thinking hard. "You're-_ you're dead."_

"Not as dead as you're going to be." He put his blades on his back. "So long _Finn_," he said amusedly and with that he took off towards the hanger bay.

"Stop!" I yelled, pushing at the sofa. "Come back here!"

Stork was at the front, frantically trying to save the ship. Junko was waking up.

"Guh, what happened?" he groaned.

"Junko!" I shouted.

He saw me and clambered over. He lifted the sofa from me.

"Phew thanks buddy," I said and he spared me a brief smile before the ship jerked violently sending us sprawling to the front.

Stork's eye was twitching wildly as he looked over the burning controls.

Then, with a soft whoosh, the clouds disappeared very suddenly then, revealing the unwelcoming sight of the Wastelands.

"Weerrre gonnnna crrrrash!" yelled Junko his peech affected by the shaking ship.

"Duuuude!" was the most intelligent thing I could come up with.

"_Abandon ship." _

Stork's hands curled into fists.

"_What?"_ I responded. Yeah, I know, life or death situations- not the best time to ask questions.

_"Abandon ship," _he hissed again.

"But - we just got her fixed up!" I argued apalled and shocked. Since when did Stork abandon the Condor?

"There's no time!" he yelled turning to me suddenly.

"We can't lose her again!" I was sick of losing things.

"She's just a ship!" he yelled back.

My jaw dropped open. Just a ship? _Just a ship?_

I might have stood there forever, But the Condor jogged again suddenly, causing me to glance back to the ground that was getting closer, and closer, and…

"We have to get out of here," said Junko urgently. "_Now."_

We turned and ran. The window filled up with a warm orange light emitted by the lava below.

…_.and closer and closer……_

There was no time to get to the hanger bay.

*****

I floated contently on my skimmer as I watched the Condor crash loudly into the Wastelands for what was the second time in my life. The second time being as much my doing as the last. '_Make sure it burns', _Cyclonis had said. '_The crystals in the controls should mess up the navigation equipment. Wait till you're in the middle of nowhere and then proceed with the plan.'_

I watched grinning as the wreckage had caught some flames. Unfortunately, the Condor had not landed into the lava where it would have been consumed for good. Instead it lay like a wounded bird, broken on the rocks, only bits of it burning.

It felt odd, in a way, to watch it all over again. Bitterly nostalgic. It felt even stranger from my current…_position. A_n awkwardness that had nothing to do with location, although it was odd how near it was to the spot where the Condor had first fallen, where I had first betrayed the Storm Hawks. The fact that I had done so a second time was not nearly as surprising as the fact that I was alive now. Huh. And how so. I blinked, and in that second, was back at that moment, hovering above Cyclonian, the battle to end all battles.....

"_**AAAARRGGHHH!"**_

_The energy beam my Master was guiding drove into my chest. Every inch of body was turning to fire. I couldn't move the pain was so intense. I wanted to tell her to stop, but I couldn't do nothing but scream incoherently. Didn't she see that it was too much?_

_Above the very tips of Cyclonia, the battle to end all battles. Was this how I was going to die? By the hands of my own Master?_

"_Cyclonis stop!" I faintly heard the Storm Hawks girl yell._

_Yes, stop, please…_

_The pain only became more refined. The Binding had never felt like this before. I felt so infused with the energy but it was overwhelming. My back arched, my limbs stiffened in agony, hardened, I was turning to stone- no, crystal._

**"_Arrrrggh!"_**

_The pain reached the climax. Every part of my body, every cell, the very core of my being, filled up with energy, with pain._

_I couldn't take anymore, I couldn't-_

_And then…_

_It stopped._

_I didn't remember falling unconscious, but I remembered becoming conscious again. _

It felt like a dream.

_I could feel myself rising. Higher and higher. Light as a feather drifting in the winds._

_I felt powerful too. More powerful than ever. _

_As I rose everything became more ethereal. I floated, almost serene, except that part of me felt troubled, knotted. It weighed me down._

_I continued to rise still, but fear began to grow inside me. Fear was heavy._

_Where was I? What was going on?_

_I could then feel my power draining, like the strong bit was being sliced away._

_No. _

_I wanted it. _

_That power._

_It was mine. _

'_No,' I thought. I knew what was going on now. "No," I thought again and it seemed to be aloud this time, like an actually sound._

_I willed myself to stop, to go down instead of up. I held on to my power, and sank downward. Things became heavier. More solid ..more real. Soon I was flying down quickly. Then, like a string was attached around me, I felt a pull. Now I was being pulled down. I did not resist. I was being called. Summoned._

_And I knew who was summoning me. _

***

A film was forming now in the middle of the clearing, a sort of hazy mist, trying to figure out it's shape. You could tell where it was because the light couldn't travel through it or bend around it properly. It then took the basic form of a person- a man. It began to glow red, like a Firebolt crystal.

The caller lowered her staff and stopped chanting, pleased with her work.

The red glow began to take on more details, but the specifics were still blurred. There was a body, a uniform, armour, a face.

"Welcome back," said the enchantress, "_Dark Ace."_

* * *

**A/N: Because you know he's coming back.**

**And it gets explained HOW in the next chapter (had I stuck that here, this would have been a VERY fat chapter). So I might post it this weekend.**

**Fun tidbit of info? The memory part starting with the italics and part of the next chapter were both written back in AUGUST. Yes, August. It's December now. Originally, they were part of chapter two, but I wanted to make the whole impostor thing a surprise so it just kept getting pushed back. Very far back.**

**Btw guys, the next review will be the 53rd review. Lucky 53 for Episode 53! And please, do review..**


	13. Reunions

Reunions

"Welcome back," said the enchantress. "_Dark Ace."_

The face twitched at recognition of his name. The Ace looked down at his translucent hands, outlined in a red glow. Then he looked back at the young empress.

"_Master Cyclonis," _he recognized, a scowl on his face. He had known it was her calling.

"How are you feeling?" she asked pleasantly.

"_You…..you killed me!" _He shouted outraged curling his hands into fists. His form seemed to glow brighter . " You little-"

"Relax Dark Ace." She interupted in a bored tone.

"_Relax?!" _He repeated his movements sharp and angry ."_Relax?_ Thanks to you, I'm just a…a...a spirit!"

"It's hardly _my_ fault," she countered annoyed by his accusations. "You said yourself _'More! More!'. _I merely assumed you could handle it. Once again, I assumed too much of you."

The Dark Ace grimaced.

They both recalled the incident well. Ace remembered the power, the wonderful power! Then...the burning. Too much power. Overflowing inside him. Killing him.

"Well now what, _Master_?" He hissed the last word. "I don't even have a body anymore."

"A minor setback." She admitted with a slight shrug.

"A mino-_minor setback?!" _He bellowed. "_I'm dead in case you haven't noticed! I'm…" _Suddenly the full force of the events hit him. He began to think about what he was actually saying. His own death. Shock finally caught up to him. _If you live you win, and I never lose!_ Never…?

He looked down at his translucent ghost of a body.

"_I'm…"_

"More powerful than ever?" Offered Cyclonis stepping forward.

The Dark Ace looked at her. Then he remembered it. Felt it again. _The power._

"_Yes." _he admitted. He held up his curled fist feeling the energy course through him. Then he looked to the rocks that surrounded them in a perfect circle. He aimed his hand towards one, felt the power run and gather…

Light erupted from his arm, sped to one of the rocks and-

_BOOM!_

It exploded. Little bits of rock went tumbling through the air and on the ground.

The Dark Ace looked surprised for second. He stared at his arm, marvelling at his new strength.

Cyclonis smiled.

"You lose some.." she said her hand outstretch to the Ace. Then she motioned towards the rumble heap he'd just made. "…You win some."

-----

Cyclonis herself, although she barely showed it, was actually much relieved to have been able to summon the Dark Ace's spirit. The whole first day she'd gotten back to the Farside had been spent trying to locate him without any such luck. The Dark Ace had always been a constant in her life. For as long as she could remember, he had been Cyclonian's prided warrior. There was a distant relationship between them, but it one of the few relationships she had at all.

She explained to him that the crystal energy she'd been feeding into him had proved too much for his body to contain and it had been destroyed. Gone, like the crystal she'd been binding him with. Aside from that though, the 'binding' had greater rewards.

The power of the crystal, the crystal itself, was imbued within him now. The two had fused together; it's power was now his.

"It is," she said. "Binding in the very sense of the word."

She also explained that the binding between herself and him also caused a small link between them; allowing her the ability to reach out to his soul and call it back. When the Dark Ace hesitantly asked 'Back from where..?' She simply replied, 'You tell me' with a wry smile.

"Anyways," she continued, "Your new form may have it's faults but now, on the plus side, you are one of the most powerful beings in the entire Atmos, and _beyond."_

A slight grin crept on the Ace's face. "More powerful than you?" he asked trying to sound causal.

Cyclonis sneered.

"Don't count on it." She said with ferocity.

The Dark Ace pulled back a little. Not that he would have attacked her if she'd said yes. No, there was nothing to gain from that. Still, some revenge would be nice. She _had _nearly destroyed him entirely.

"After all," she added, "I'm the one who binded you to the crystal in the first place. I can just as easily _unbind_ you. If that were to happen, you would quickly fade without my assistance."

"I wouldn't dream of betraying you," he said earnestly. _Though slapping you is a faint temptation._

"Good," she said sealing the conversation. "Because I'm going to need your help."

_Oh yes_, she needed his help, he thought. Wasn't that what he was? The enabler? But at least his job with Cyclonis enabled him back. Unlike before….

"But first things first," she said turning around now, walking out of the clearing. "Were going to have to find you a new body. If you hadn't been so foolish with the Suit Of Untold Vengeance it would have been the perfect replacement. But since you botched that too, we'll just have to make do with something else." She smiled wickedly.

The Dark Ace was still frowning at her second remark about his failures.

"Something...else?"

***

He was not looking forward to the Master's plan at all, but after a couple days floating around as a spirit he was growling ever restless.

They had their chance the day before, Aerrow and the girl Piper, had been on the deck, alone and vulnerable. But Cyclonis had told him to wait. Another opportunity soon presented itself.

The next day- oh it was so convenient- the two separated themselves from the group, a recon mission to the city- _alone._

"What now Master?" he asked. "We cannot allow them to reach the city."

"And we won't," replied the cloaked girl. "This is the opportunity."

"Will this really work?" commented the Dark Ace as the two Storm Hawks , who were small dots in the sky at this point came closer.

"I am assured of it," she replied. "We have the element of surprise on our side. And I've been sending Piper's some little overnight messages. She's a little tired from the lack of sleep." She said amusedly.

The Dark Ace grimaced, happy she hadn't been in _his_ head.

"_But does it have to be him?" _the ghostly warrior groaned.

"_He_ will be the most useful," she countered. "Besides, it's not permanent, unless," she looked back at him, "You want it be."

His grimaced depended.** "**_**No."** _

Cyclonis smiled, and stepped back behind the rocks. She held out her hand.

"You can have the first shot."

The Dark Ace smiled and floated forward. "With pleasure," he replied stepping out from behind the rocks to get a better view.

"Aim for Piper," said Cyclonis.

The girl then, though dark Ace, adjusting his position. He raised up his arm.

He aimed.

He fired.

He hit.

The heli-scooter engine exploded, and the vehicle spun out of control, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

"Piper!" Aerrow yelled and quickly manoeuvred his skimmer after her.

Piper's scooter plummeted downward with her on it. Luckily the blast hadn't her. Unluckily she'd forgotten her parachute.

Cyclnis smiled gleefully.

But Piper wasn't finished yet. She jumped on top of her seat and crouched and just before the scooter hit the ground she leapt off careening away from the wreckage and onto had solid ground.

"Piper!" Aerrow yelled again. The skimmer slid to a halt and the SkyKnight jumped off and ran towards Piper who was slowly getting up.

Another blast erupted, hitting the ground before Aerrow, causing him to halt. He glanced confusedly into the shadows and brought out his blades.

"Show yourself!" he demanded.

From the dark, out stepped darkness herself. Cyclonis. Aerrow's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"Figures," he spat scowling.

"My, my, Aerrow. Is that _any_ kind of a proper greeting?" She whipped her staff and sent a purple blast towards him. Naturally he leaped away and Cyclonis advanced floating up into the air.

Aerrow jumped back and Radarr growled behind him in defence.

Cyclonis laughed, and to Aerrow's displeasure he noticed that her staff looked particular different. New glowing crystal were attached and several metallic whirling and twisting parts had been added.

_Upgrades. _

She fired again.

Aerrow jumped and threw his own blast. Cyclonis blocked it easily. Way too easily.

But Piper was getting up. She turned her attention to Cyclonis and smiled, crystals in hand. Aerrow smiled, knowing the Piper would catch Cyclonis offgaurd.

What happened next caught both Piper and Aerrow offgaurd.

From behind the rocks came another blast, from another fighter, careening into her, like the one that had hit her ride. Piper flew off her feet, smashing into a rock formation, then slumped to the ground in heap.

"Piper!" Shouted Aerrow watching her slump to the ground. Oh crud. Was she even breathing? He looked to Cyclonis who just smiled. _Of course she hadn't come alone, _he thought irritably, and suddenly wished that hadn't come without the rest of his team.

"Your turn," Cyclonis said grinning.

Aerrow made a slice at her, which she dodged, then jumped away toward Piper's body. He made it halfway across the clearing a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"_Aerrow, so nice to see you again."_

His breath froze in his chest and his stomach twisted into a knot. Familiarity made a violent shiver run down his spine.

"_No_…" he whispered.

"_Oh yes." _The voice replied back.

Aerrow turned around slowly. His eyes widened even more.

"_It can't be…"_

The glimmering red outline of the Drak Ace, prized warrior of Cyclonian stood- no- floated before him. For amoment he could only stare and gape.

" _How..? And…what_?" he voice barely above a whisper.

"Really Aerrow, did you think I could be killed so easily?" the Dark Ace replied.

"_But this ..is impossible_," said Aerrow. " You _died._ I saw it."

"And I'd love to return the favor."

"....you're… dead though." said Aerrow, unable to comprehend the scene before him.

The Dark Ace floated forward.

_"Then let's trade places."_

* * *

**A/N: Half of this is from August and the other half I finished editing seconds ago- yeah I'm kinda breaking my 'never just write and publish rule' - though technical, I did edit and re-read several times.**

**I should wait till morning but I want to publish- and sleep. Which I will do. After I publish. The beginning part with Ace and Cyclonis feels kind of weird to me- rushed? Nah-I have to stop dragging things out so much. I kind of like this chap though. I used a lot of quotes from the original show.**

**Writing about Aerrow and Piper isn't too hard, and writing about DA and Cyclonis is fun, but writing about all of them in the same scene is difficult. Too many focus points!**

**Reviews would be very nice. _Very , critique, etc._**

**and p.s I made a new video on youtube and no one has commented on it so I'm advertising. It's called 'History Repeats~ Storm Hawks'.Look it up.**


	14. From The Eyes of the Enemy

_CH14:From the Eyes of the Enemy (Aerrow's POV)_

Piper sometimes says that I don't think things through. However, that's probably a good thing. As a Skyknight I sometimes find myself in some very unexpected situations. A lot of the time, I'm being attacked. So, in order to stay alive I have to be quick on my feet- I can't stop to think things through-I have to act. I can't bother to wonder, how and why or what. I have gauge the situation in an instant and make a move. I can't pause there and start questioning the enemy- especially when the reply I get is energy blasts. If I did that all the time I'd probably be dead a long time ago.

Which is why the Dark Ace's so-called reappearance only stunned me for a half a minute. Half a minute of pure shock, of asking _'How? And, what?' _then straight into_- wow that energy blast was close._

"You can't run forever Aerrow," taunted Cyclonis as I ducked down behind a outcropping to catch my breath. I glanced over to my right. Piper's crumpled form wasn't more than twenty-feet away. She still wasn't moving.

I had to get to her. I had to find Radarr. And then somehow, I had to get all of us to safety.

The rock behind me exploded, throwing me on to my face. My blades slid away.

I turned on my back to face the enemy. They were smiling.

"Why don't you make this easy and give yourself up?" The Dark Ace mocked.

I smiled trying not to let him see my fear. "If I did that, it wouldn't be any fun."

I quickly rolled over avoiding a blast whilst grabbing my blades and getting up into a fighting stance.

Cyclonis sneered at me, "_This is a war, not a game."_

"You'll lose either way," I said pointing a blade. "Your terra is in pieces, Cyclonis. Admit defeat."

Cyclonis 's scowled and put forward her hand. In it, was a small white crystal. It glowed gently, and suddenly, I felt...strange. Weightless. A similar white glow surrounded me.

She tightened her fist.

Pain erupted in my body. It felt as if my insides were being squished together. I dropped my blades and held my stomach, trying not to yell. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground. Despite the pain in my ears I could hear Cyclonis laughing.

"You're falling to pieces, Aerrow. Admit defeat."

"_Never." _I managed through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't matter what you say. You've already lost." Her cold voice ringed. My teeth grinded together. I refused to scream.

Cyclonis squeezed on the crystal tighter and the pain intensified. How long could I last like this? I didn't plan to find out.

Quick as I could be, I snatched one of my blades and whirled it at Cyclonis catching her by surprise. The blade knocked into her arm flinging the white crystal away. She let out a cry of frustration and the twisting pain within me stopped, though, I felt seriously drained.

Suddenly, before I could recover, the Dark Ace grabbed me and pinned me up to another nearby rock. My head cracked sharply against the stone.

You wouldn't think that a spirit could have such a tight grip.

"Gently Dark Ace. We need him in good condition."

He just grunted in reply.

His hand squeezed on my neck and the other pinned my shoulder. I tried to wrench away his grip but the pain was still riveting through my body. The vice grip on throat wasn't helping either.

I was having trouble breathing. My vision began to cut off. If I passed out would he release my neck? Or squeeze tighter till I was dead?

Oh gawd…Everything dimmed. I felt numb. Had the Dark Ace not been pinning me against the wall I would've fallen over.

Through blurred vision, I watched the purple blob that was Cyclonis raise her staff , to strike the final blow my guess. It certainly felt like the final blow.

I thought the white crystal had been bad. This was worse. It wasn't just my body that was in pain- because it certainly was in excruciating and unbearable agony- it felt like...something else. Deeper. Like emotional pain.

I screamed- I couldn't hold it any longer. And the sound of my own screaming was terrifying.

Was she trying to kill me the same way she had killed the Dark Ace? Overload me with energy till I exploded? Was it a hobby to collect ghosts?

"Stop," I tried to say. "_Please." _Yeah, begging to the enemy. Not my usual style, but let me tell you- it _really _hurt. Needless to say, she didn't stop. The pain just dragged on till I was nearing the point of unconscious- both welcoming it and fighting against it. What would happen if I passed out? Would I wake up? Usually when I'm fighting I don't think about the danger I'm in- being immobile left my mind as the only thing functioning quickly.

"Now," I faintly heard Cyclonis say.

"How?" came the Dark Ace's reply, only slightly clearer.

In my hazy state I vaguely saw Cyclonis raise her other hand and direct another blast. I though she wanted to finish me off quicker, instead the beam hit the Dark Ace. His form glowed brighter and that's when things got _weird._

The Dark Ace _flew_ into my body. As in, passed through, like my body was no more solid than air.

Double the pain and triple the weirdness.

The outside world seemed to vanish. I couldn't see, hear, or feel. Then, confusing images flashed in my mind at high-speed. I sensed emotions, and thoughts that weren't mine. Contempt, apathy, ambition, indifference, bitterness, pain.

For one fraction of an instant, I 'felt' the Dark Ace's soul.

And he felt mine.

Like something so cold it burned. It pushed at me, while another force pulled. Suddenly I was jogged 'forward', like a fish pulled out of water, gasping in air. I saw again, but the view was all wrong. My body was behind me.

Can the soul fall unconscious? Mine did.

***

Aerrow's body fell forward, and Cyclonis nearly collapsed as well, finally able to rest. Binding one soul to another body. A body with a soul already in it. First rule of physics- a vessel already filled cannot contain anymore than it already does. Therefore you must remove or compress the contents of one vessel to fit anything else in it. But that was physics- that dealt with the physical. Souls were another matter. Two souls in one body, so it had been for a second, two forces fighting for control.

'Unbinding' was new to Cyclonis. Pulling Aerrow's soul from his body as the Dark Ace's spirit forced him out- had such a thing ever been done before? She could have sworn that, on last final tug of boy's spirit, she had seen it forced out of his body, seen it flash brightly, then dissolve into nothing.

Cyclonis rested on her staff looking at the unconscious boy. Had it worked? She walked forward to the boy and , too tired to use more crystal magic, flipped him over to his back with her hands.

He groaned. Alive then, she thought. But who was in there?

"Aerrow?" she asked cautiously. The face scrunched up and groaned.

"_Dark Ace?"_

The eyes opened. The boy sat up slowly and looked over at Cyclonis, then down at himself in awe. He looked at his hand opening and closing it slowly.

"It worked." he said.

"You sound surprised."

Carefully he tried to stand up. He wavered, and leaned against the rock for support.

"How do you feel?" asked Cyclonis.

The face sneered. _"Ill."_

"You will for a while," said Cyclonis like she was an expert on soul-switching side effects.

The boy suddenly jolted, and glowed red for a second, like someone has electrocuted him with a firebolt crystal.

"_Ugh! What..?"_

"Your spirit is still binded to the crystal energy. This body won't be able to contain it any better than your old one."

His eyes widened.

"_You mean we did all this just so I could blow up again?" _growled the boy, sounding much more like the Dark Ace. Strange that their voices, just faintly, were similar in a distant way.*****

"Any vessel already filled cannot contain anymore than it already does. You simply need to let some of the energy out every once in a while. Alone of course. I should think our new 'friends' might be a little concerned if they saw your special abilities. Now tell me," said Cyclonis. "What do you remember?"

The Dark Ace raised an eyebrow. "Remember?" he asked.

"Can you see anything from the boy's memory?"

He straightened, then, shut his eyes in concentration and remained that way for a moment.

_You're falling to pieces Aerrow. Admit defeat._

_I can't believe were here.._

_**Leave him alone!**_

_We find an Atmos without you_

_I'm also a Storm Hawk_

_**So tell me SkyKnight, are you just pretending?**_

_You want to be Skyknights? Join a squadron?_

_Chica- cha!_

_I'm so sorry Aerrow…_

_**You're just a bunch of kids…**_

_You'll want to see this…_

_**You must find the ship and rebuild the team…**_

_It's time to chose sides Aerrow!_

_What do we do now?_

_Terra Neverlandis…I like the sound of that._

_Go Aerrow, get out of here!_

_Fine. I'll teach you - but don't tell your mom._

_You and Piper take the heliscooter and get as far away as possible_

_**He was great- that's all you need to know. He loved us Aerrow. I wish you could have met him. I wish he were here.**_

The boy groaned and held his head.

"It's….jumbled." he said. "But it's there."

"Good," said Cyclonis. "Start remembering. We'll need that information. Names for starters."

The Dark Ace shut his eyes again searching the body's memory. He opened them and smiled smugly.

"Check."

Then he looked over to his left at the girl, still lying on the ground.

_Piper._

A dozen more images flashed in his mind, all of the girl. His stomach turned unpleasantly, and the urge to run to her aid was disturbingly potent.

_The boy's affections for her are, no, _were _strong._

The Dark Ace groaned and put a hand to his head again. _Ugh. Not only would he have to deal with waking up every morning in his enemy's body, but he had to deal with the memories of his emotions too? Great. Just great._

Cyclonis too was looking at the girl. "Ah yes," she said smiling. "That reminds me."

She took out a dark purple pouch and tightened her grip on it. The bag began to glow, the crystal inside activated. Cyclonis's form flickered and glowed brighter and brighter, then flashed brightly.

When the light died down Cyclonis was gone, and a girl who looked identical to the one lying meters away, minus the bruises and singed clothes, was standing in her place. She smiled wickedly.

"_Atmos is as good as mine."_

**_

* * *

_**

*Their voices sound similar because they're voiced by the same guy. Actually, alot of the hero and their villain counterparts are voiced by the same actor. Stork and Repton. Junko and Snipe. It's a trend.

A/N: CHRISTMAS PRESENT!!!!!! Hope you like :) 


	15. Unbearable

__

**A/N: **

**I've gotten some reviews lately saying I need to lighten up! Which is kind of true. The Storm Hawks are having a terrible time (I'm over-compensating for the lack of seriousness in the show plus, to me, this is like a movie special of Storm hawks so I figure it should be extra dramatic) BUT for the record I do so have humour in the fic. Just it's all at the beginning. Before everything went wrong. I will make a conscientious attempt to add more funny. Just not in this chap. Okay, I stuck a little in this chap. I'm not sure how funny the characters can be when everything is going to heck around them...**

**Oh and sorry about the POVs- but truth be told I _like_ jumping POVs. I enjoy getting into the character's heads- first person helps to create empathy. I suppose it can be done in third person, or omniscient third person, but they sometimes feel too impersonal for my taste. Hmm, does anyone actually like the switching POVs? Meh, I'll try to keep it simple then.**

**And to bring up another thing- I'm beginning to realize that this is kind of (or will be) long. There's not much I can do to fix it _now _but I don't think I've ever read a story on here with as many chapters as this will probably have, that wasn't a drabble ( I'm maybe halfway or so to finishing the story?). If this were an episode, it wouldn't seem as long because it takes more words then minutes for an actual event to what would you guys prefer? Longer chaps? Or about the same size? **

**This first bit should sound familiar...**

* * *

_CH15 Unbearable_

It was evening.

The sun was orange and the horizon was pink, bordering on red. The sun was drowning in the pink. Sinking slowly beneath the red cloud waves, never quite entirely covered, but touched by them none the less.

A tiny battered body lay bruised on the ground. The clearing around her was not much. A clear stretch of bare rock surrounded by trees and dense plants. A broken ( and beyond repair) heliscooter lay in dented pieces next to a large outcropping.

An even smaller creature whined quietly next to her. He nudged her shoulder once. Twice. The whine became more pronounced. The girl did not respond. The creature began to howl.

There was a low groan.

"Uhhh-cut it out Radarr."

Radarr stopped howling and chirped happily.

The dark skinned girl groaned as she slowly lifted herself into a sitting position.

Everything ached terribly!

She put a hand to head and swayed from side to side before being able to focus.

She focused.

Her head snapped up.

"Aerrow?" she called. Her voice came out weak.

She looked around the clearing, a sense of dread rising in the pit of her stomach. There was nothing, as much as she could see, but herself, Radarr, and the Frankenstein of metal that had once been her ride.

"Aerrow!?" Piper yelled again, rising unsteadily. Radarr looked at her concernedly, worried she would fall. Nobody responded to her call.

It was quiet, except for the sound of insects and a breeze rustling through the trees.

She stared hard at the ground. Her dark hands curled into fists at her sides and the girl quavered ever so slightly.

"What have you done, Cyclonis?" she whispered under her breath. She looked up at the sky.

"_What have you done?!" _It echoed off the rocks.

The sun had just about set then, bathing the clearing in shadows.

Radarr whined sadly, and sniffed. He could not bear the pain of his missing best friend silently any longer. He let out a long, anguishing howl. It too, bounced off the rocks and was caught by the cold growing wind, and swept into nothing.

Piper's knees buckled beneath her, and coiled her fists. Tears welled up in her eyes. Radarr snuggled against her_. Why did we come here?, _she thought. _Why did we have to follow Cyclonis? _There was an obvious answer to that but she asked it anyways.

Aerrow was gone- no where to be seen. And something felt…wrong. Piper began to shake, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She hadn't been there when it mattered. She had let her guard down. A sob escaped her throat.

_So stupid!, _She thought. _I should have seen this coming, I should have planned this better! _Loneliness overwhelmed her- Aerrow couldn't be gone. Aerrow was always there. He had always been there, almost as far back as she could remember. He always came back from fights, back to the Condor smiling as if nothing had ever happened. His blind optimism, reckless behaviour, always jumping into things way over his head, without any regard for safety, always putting other people first, no matter the risk, always up for the craziest stunts, his sense of adventure, the innocence in his eyes despite all the battles he fought, all the terror he knew from own life. The way he loved to travel, to go where no one had ever gone, to do what no one had even done. The way he didn't care for glory or fame or money. How he was a SkyKnight solely because he believed in protecting others. How he believed in justice and truth. How he believed in her, even when she didn't believe in herself.

Aerrow couldn't be gone! It was unbearable.

What would she do without him? What would the team do?

A horrible apprehension fell, like a rock in her stomach.

_The team._

_Oh no. _Piper stood up suddenly. She ran to her heliscooter and tried the radio, but to no surprise, it didn't work. Even if it did she figured the interference would've been terrible. She looked back over to the sky, turning a darker and darker blue-green. She took a few wandering steps forward.

Her foot touched something. She looked down to see a white crystal at her feet. Tiny and opaque. She picked it up to observe then looked back into the sky in the direction where she and Aerrow had come from. She had to get back to the Condor, she had to warn the guys that Cyclonis was here and that she wasn't alone. She had to warn them before Cyclonis got to them- unless she already had. Piper felt sick. The sun had set. She had been out cold for hours. Anything could have happened. Aerrow was bad enough but the rest of her team?

She shut eyes tight forcing out another tear.

"_Aerrow." _she whispered sadly.

"Piper?"

Piper whirled around suddenly. But the clearing was …clear. Radarr looked around as well, doing a 360. Were his ears deceiving him? That had sounded like Aerrow. Maybe that fall in the brush had been harder than he thought.

"_Piper." _

Piper heard it again and it sounded near. He was…close. And there. She could feel it. But where..? She squinted her eyes. The air wavered, the way it does on a hot day. Was that steam? A soft form was becoming clear, outlined in a light blue glow.

"Aerrow?" said Piper. The form raised forward it's hand, palm out. Piper slowly and did likewise, gently pressing against the blue shape. A tingle ran through her whole body as they touched, and her hand feel through his.

It was Aerrow, she knew, even before the outline fell into place completely.

"Aerrow," she said, both incredible confused and enormously relieved, her face flickered between extreme happiness and puzzlement. "What-?"

Radarr chirped in joy and launched himself at Aerrow to give him a big. He flew through his figure, and landed on the other side of him with an 'Ooof'. Aerrow and Piper looked back at each other.

"I'm…a spirit." said Aerrow amazed. He stared down at his hands, then looked up sharply at Piper, his form glowing a little brighter. "We have to warn the others!" he said urgently. "They won't realize in time."

"Realize what?" asked Piper.

"The Dark Ace is back!" said Aerrow tightening his ghostly hands into fists. "He's in my body!"

"_What!?_" said Piper jaw dropping.

"I don't know how exactly they did it, but Cyclonis managed to pull my soul from my body and put the Dark Ace's soul, if you can say he has a soul, into it. And I'll bet you any money he and Cyclonis are already on the Condor."

Piper looked at Aerrow for a moment taking it all in. "They'll think he's you," she said realizing the danger her friends, and Atmos, was in.

"That's not all," said Aerrow. "When the Dark Ace and I...switched, our spirits met for a second. I saw into his mind. I know what they're planning. Cyclonis has bunch of crystals put together so she can look and sound just like you. The two of them together will pretend to be us-"

"-and know one will know the difference." finished Piper looking horrified.

"_For the sake of our friends," _said Aerrow, _" Lets hope someone does."_

****

Piper, Radarr, and Aerrow stood (well Aerrow floated actually) in the large clearing surrounded by thick brush. The sky was almost completely black, but Aerrow's glowing form provided enough light.

"We're too late," said Piper, hopelessness tainting her voice. "They're gone."

"Maybe we're just in the wrong spot," Aerrow, trying to stay optimistic.

Radarr sniffed the air then howled. It smelt like the spot where they'd parked the Condor.

"No," said Piper, "this is definitely the spot. There's the Condor's marks." she pointed to the tracks faintly outlined in the ground. She hung her head low. "They've already left." she said and she felt ready to cry again. Why had they ever split up? She knew it would be dangerous so why hadn't she taken better precautions?

"Relax," said Aerrow trying to put a hand on her shoulder (though he removed it once it started to sink through). "There's not much we can do. But it's getting dark and you need find somewhere safe to sleep."

"How can I sleep when Cyclonis and the Dark Ace are after our friends? " said Piper turning to him.

"You need to rest Piper," said Aerrow. "I'll stay up and keep guard."

"Spirits don't sleep?" Piper said , a small smile on her face.

"Don't think I really need it." he replied, a smile creeping on his features as well.

Piper looked up and down at her friend.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just…" she shook her head. "It's just so _weird."_

"_You _think it's weird?" He replied. "The _Dark Ace _is in _my body_-" He put his hand on his chest. "Our souls _met _for a second." His hands flew widely to his head and gripped his hair. "_I'm completely creeped out!"_

Piper couldn't help but smile. Spirit or not, Aerrow was still alive. And even though everything else was going horribly (lost in a strange place, her friends in danger), that one small fact made everything…_bearable._


	16. Terra

**RAWR! MEGA-CHAPTER WILL EAT YOU! MEGA-CHAPTER WILL DEVOUR!!!BLAHARAHG! BEWARE THE BLARGH!**

**Ok, I'm over-exaggerating, but this one feels long to me.**

* * *

Piper woke up feeling sore. The cold ground had not made the most comfortable bed, though she had fared worse.

"How'd you sleep?" asked Aerrow sitting not far away. His appearance was affirmation enough that yesterday's events had not been another nightmare.

"Fine," said Piper. She got up and dusted off her clothes. She looked around perplexed. "Where's Radarr?"

Aerrow turned around confused. "He was here just a second ago. Radarr?"

A fuzzy blue head popped out of the bushes and chirped.

"There you are," said Aerrow, "C'mon let's- hey what?"

Radarr's head disappeared back into the bushes and Aerrow and Piper watched the blue blur run deeper into the forest.

"Radarr wait!" shouted Piper. She jumped into the bushes to follow, Aerrow close behind. But Radarr would not slow down. From, tree to tree, to rock and bush the little creature dived in and out of sight. Piper and Aerrow managed to follow by only the quick sightings of his tail or ear.

"_Where is he going?" _said Aerrow. Deeper and deeper into the brush they went. The vegetation began to change. Strange but beautiful flowers bloomed, and strange brightly coloured fruits hung from branches. Some of the plants appeared to have tiny crystal shards embedded into their stems.

"Radarr! _Slow down." _said Piper bending underneath some thick branches to follow. Radarr's face appeared up ahead. He chirped at them then disappeared from sight. There was light up ahead. Finally, Piper and Aerrow broke through the brush and gasped.

They were standing at the edge of a cliff and below on a hilly plain was a collection of strange little dome, stick houses and dens. Little creatures moved into and out of them running along the grass and fields. Beyond these tiny huts was a greater sight- in between the tall dark mountains, glowing and glittering in all it's magnitude.

"The city," said Aerrow his voice full of wonder. A voice chirped by his non-substantial feet. He looked down.

"Radarr how-?" he stopped. The creature by him looked like Radarr, but was wearing different clothes, a white cloth actually, and was slightly smaller. The creature chirped smiling then scurried by them to their left where a path made its way down the side of the cliff.

Piper and Aerrow looked after it, confused. There was a panting noise behind them and the sound of branches breaking. Radarr came out of the brush, and collapsed on the ground, exhausted from chasing after them.

The team-mates looked at each other.

The white clothed creature reappeared and chirped irritably at them, waiting for them to follow.

****

The little sticks huts were short but wide. Little 'Radarrs' of various colours moved all over the place, carrying fruit, pups, sticks, and the most of bizarre items including a group of them that appeared to be moving a sink.

"They're…all Radarrs." said Aerrow. Radarr, who was sitting on Pipers shoulder's chirped irritably _(they were not all him- he was him!), _but his irritation was distracted when a pink female caught sight of him and battered her eyelashes flirtatiously. Radarr melted on Piper's shoulder and dopily waved at the female. Maybe he had died, like Aerrow, and this was heaven.

"Well, now we know where Radarr came from," said Piper observing the curious little creatures. They seemed to have a city of their going on.

The white-clothed 'Radarr' chirped at them and signalled for them to keep going. Curiously, the carried on. The land turned into hills generally sloping downwards. They followed the 'Radarr' on the path and as they did, they noticed to their left the tips of mightily tall scraggily mountain tops, all their points dipping away from them, like soft cone ice cream tops. From where they walked they could just barely see that a similar line of 'mountains' faced those ways, their tips dipped towards them. And to the right, through the spaces between some shorter mountain outposts, glowing and sparkling white towers could be seen.

"The city," said Piper. "He's taking us to the city." She looked worriedly at Aerrow.

"We've got nowhere else to go," said Aerrow.

"But Cyclonis-" said Piper. "They might think were enemies. They might arrest us- or worse!"

The white-clothed 'Radarr' looked at them impatiently, tapping his foot.

"I'm sure we can make them understand," said Aerrow. "Besides," he added smiling. "I want to see it."

Piper, still didn't look too sure, but she was just as curious as Aerrow. Putting their fates into the hands of the little creature, they followed.

The trail bore them downwards and through a pass in between the mountains. Looking up into the rocks Piper and Aerrow noticed strange house-like dwellings nesting in the rocks. Light glowed from the houses, and crystal lamps hung in front of their doors. Many small paths weaves down from the homes down from the cliff sides. Slipping into the glen, they noticed the river, huge and long, running between the twin mountain ranges towards the hull of the city, where it then split and made its way into it. Several boats floated in the waters. Overhead, the singing of the flying whale-like creatures sounded.

The hull of the city, to their right, was huge. Several smaller towers stood randomly, but in the apparent center was an enormously tall tower, and a bright beacon of light shone from it, reminding the wanderers of Terra Atmosia's Aurora Stone lighthouse. All the structures were mostly made of whitish stone.

And then there were the people. Aerrow and Piper froze, entranced by the site of the people. They were humanoid figures, slim for the most part, long fingers, and not much taller than the average human. Opaquely white, or light pastel colours, was their skin, which made them appear very solid. Those with the pastel skins usually had hair of a similar colour, though different tone.

A couple of young children ran by laughing, though they paid no attention to the Storm Hawks and their guide. A girl with light blue hair and white skin, a pastel green boy with darker green hair, an very-pale orange skinned girl with fire-like hair as well as others.

They glittered strangely, and the Storm hawks noticed, this was because a number crystals , varying in size and colour, were embedded into their flesh.

Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr looked at them in shock. The children carried on, chasing each other in the other direction.

"They're…part crystal." said Aerrow.

"That's.." said Piper. "That's amazing!" she exclaimed, eyes widening. Her face took on that glow she always got whenever something 'absolutely fascinating' and crystal related popped up.

A couple of older people had taken notice of the Storm Hawks now and were whispering to each other.

The white clothed 'Radarr' was moving ever steadily towards the city. The trio followed him, and he would keep pausing to make sure they were following. Many of the strange people were stopping now to stare as they passed. They backed off the trail that ran by the river and quietly spoke to one another.

Aerrow, Piper, and Radarr began to feel uncomfortable. Some of the people had weapons.

The trail widened and led to a bridge which crossed one of the branches of the river. The bridge led into the city main land. They crossed it, and walked into a semicircle of cobblestone. In front of them stood the gates.

It sat in the middle of a stone brick wall. Magnificent, and made from a green metal the doors stood wide opened. A guard, dressed in armour like those the Nightcrawlers had gotten from the Farside, stood on either side, and a guard sat at each watch tower located at points on top of the wall.

People paid them no heed, but they made the Storm Hawks nervous. In fact they became especially nervous when the white clothed 'Radarr' dashed through the crowd and scurried up the shoulder of one of the guards and whispered something in his ear then pointed right at them.

The guard's eyes feel on the strangers.

The Storm Hawks stopped and looked around ready to run, but a large crowd had began to form around them

The guard yelled in a foreign language to the other soldiers. They stood up and descended from their posts and headed for the outsiders.

"Oh no," said Piper, beginning to panic.

The white clothed 'Radarr' still perched on the guard's shoulder gave them the thumbs up reassuringly, making them more confused.

Piper, Aerrow and Radarr didn't know what to do- they stood there looking nervous as the guards surrounded them, pointing their crystal staffs at their chests.

The guard with the 'Radarr' on him stood in front of them. He said something in a strange language.

"Umm.." said Aerrow who looked over at Piper. "D'you catch that?"

Piper looked from her transparent friend to the guard in front of her. He was intimidating. From close up she noticed that he, and all the people here, had strange eyes. No pupils or irises hinted at where they were looking. Their eyes were all one colour- and they glowed, like they were lit up from within.

The guard repeated himself. It sounded like a question.

Piper's face changed to surprise. The dialect, she was familiar with it. It was the same language Cyclonis had used when summoning the Oracle back in the Forbidden City. Old, very old. An ancient language.

Piper cautiously replied with something that (hopefully) translated as, "We mean no harm, we are from Atmos."

The guards' faces changed and they muttered to each other too quickly for Piper to translate. They backed up a little, nodded, and signalled for them to follow.

Piper and Aerrow looked around but the guards behind them cut off an escape route. Cautiously they continued, walking through the gates, guided by armed warriors, deeper and deeper into the heart of the city.

The trio, although technically captured, could not help but be bewildered by the city. Weaving streets of cobblestone, to the sights of high arching buildings, crystal lights, ground vehicles, strange beasts_, _other humanoid creatures, merchandise of more crystals, fruits, spices and unusual things. Everything held a unique and fresh sense.

The guards stopped at one point and took out a purple crystal- a message crystal Piper noted- and communicated with the holographic image of another guard. Within minutes there came the sound of whale-song, and the beasts which they had often seen flying above landed gracefully down in the street, letting their riders, more soldiers, descend.

Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr looked up at the creatures in awe. They sung, like whales, but looked more like small dragons of varying dull colours. Patterned lines of brighter or darker colours ran down their elongated faces, necks, and backs. Their skin was smooth, not scaled. They had large ears that looked like mini versions of their leather wings. On top of their heads they wore helmets that covered the tops their faces, with holes for the eyes. Their pupils were round, and strangely enough, like the people, they too had crystal faces embedded within their skin. One of the ones in front, white with red lines, and yellow eyes leaned in curiously with it's long neck. It's large face was right in front of Piper who nervously whimpered and shut her eyes. The creature sniffed her, and Piper's hair bent forward with each inhale. Then, deciding that Piper smelt rather good, licked her with such force that the navigator fell on her butt.

The guard scolded the dragon-creature, probably something along the lines of '_don't lick strange people'_. The dragon creature's ears bent back and it whimpered like a puppy.

The guards signalled for them to mount the saddles that sat on the beast's backs. Cautiously Piper carefully climbed onto the beast's back and sat behind the driver. Aerrow floated up behind her (the guards looked at him rather strangely for this) and sat behind her. The other guards mounted, and then, flapping their large wings, lifted from the ground.

Gracefully the creatures soared into the sky. Although used to flying, riding the dragon-thing was not like riding a skimmer. It's body arched and turned so smoothly. The beasts seemed fly as though they were part of the wind.

Piper gazed down at the city below as the dragon things flew towards the main tall tower ahead. She was euphoric. A completely new place, the technology, the crystals! She couldn't wait to learn everything there was to know about this side.

Aerrow on the other hand was frowning. He would have enjoyed the ride, had he perhaps been able to sense it. Everything had taken on a certain dream like quality since being…well, not killed, but removed from his body. Flight did not feel the same without the tug of gravity, pining for what it couldn't have, or the wind running across one's face.

However, there were some things he did feel that he had not sensed before. There was an energy about this place- he could feel himself absorbing it. Absorbing it from people. There seem to be 'scents' and auras that each person had. He could especially sense Piper's. It was familiar in a strange way he couldn't explain.

The dragon creatures flew towards the tower- and they were not the only ones. Large birds also carrying people or items flew in the airspace. The main tower had many different landing spaces all over in varying locations. It was the central heart of the city.

The beasts flew up higher, to a large main balcony littered with people. The dragon-things landed on the left side, lowering themselves so the riders could descend.

Piper, Radarr, and Aerrow got down and watched as the white clothed 'Radarr' scurried away from them, past the guards, along the stone, and up the side of white robed figure approaching them. The 'Radarr' appeared at the old man's shoulder and he considerately scratched the creatures head. The 'Radarr' chattered into his ear. The old man said something in the strange language, then looked at the Storm Hawks. He walked up to them, staff in hand, his pupil-less eyes glowing soft blue which matched the crystals in his pitch white skin, which blended in with his long white beard and hair.

The man was obviously important- the guards gave him space, and the crystal crown and his head was giveaway too. He stopped in front of them and dragon-things suddenly sat down heavily, making the ground shake slightly.

The old man smiled and held out his arms wide.

"_Welcome to Adamanttia!" _

The Storm Hawks were taken aback.

"You speak Atmosian?" Piper eagerly replied.

"I speak many languages," replied the old man. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Qin, head Councillor of Adamanttia. And I see you've already met my friend Sept here." he affectionately petted the head of the Radarr-look-alike on his shoulder. "Smart little creatures, Fidits. Very good judgement of character- though I suppose, you already knew that." he laughed gesturing to Radarr. Radarr squawked on Piper's shoulder and felt strangely happy- Sky Monkey, weasel, rabbit, dog, thing, he had never quite known what he was. The name felt nice.

"Fidit, huh?" said Aerrow smiling at Radarr. "I think we just found out your ancestry."

Radarr nodded smiling

Aerrow turned back to the Qin. " I'm Aerrow," he said. "This is Piper and Radarr. Were from Atmos."

"Yes, indeed you are," said Qin. "We are the Krystallion race, and this is our home," he gestured to the front of the balcony, over looking the city straight to the mountain ridged canyon. "Adamanttia."

"It's amazing," said Piper earnestly. "This side of Atmos is so different."

"Atmos?" Qin laughed. "Oh no we don't call this side of the barrier cliffs Atmos at all."

"You don't?" asked Aerrow.

"No," Qin replied. "This is Terra."

Aerrow and Piper looked at each other.

"Terra what?" Piper asked.

Qin looked momentarily confused. "Just… Terra." he said. "From cliffside to cliffside, that is what the land is called."

"You mean… it doesn't end?" Aerrow asked.

"Ah, I know what you mean. I have heard of Atmos' 'mountain top islands' - no such islands exist here. _This_ is ground level. Er generally speaking, I mean, as we are quite high right now." The wind blew beneath the balcony

Piper and Aerrow looked at each other again. Aerrow shrugged.

"Makes sense," said Aerrow.

"So, travelers," continued Qin. "I must ask, how is it you came to be here? A certain door way perhaps?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Aerrow. "How did you-?"

"You are not the only recent visitors from Atmos."

Piper scowled. "_Cyclonis."_

"So you know of her?" said Qin lightly.

"Huh, unfortunately," said Piper. "She's the reason were in this mess. She attacked us and now she's after our friends."

Qin raised an eyebrow. "Do explain."

"Cyclonis is evil," said Aerrow, "She's trying to take over Atmos. But we, the SkyKnights that is, stopped her. Cyclonis tried to escape through the doorway and my team and I followed- but she ambushed us while we were separated from our team. Somehow she managed to take my soul out of my body and replaced it with the spirit of a pilot called the Dark Ace. And then Cyclonis used her crystals so she could look like Piper- so the two of them could pretend to be us and trick our team. My guess is that they used door way to take our ship back to Atmos and we have to get back and stop them before they do any damage."

Qin (and Sept) gaped, then Qin cleared his throat.

"Sounds like a bad story plot." he commented. "_But_ if you're telling the truth then I fear we've made a grievous error. Cyclonis came to us asking for help, claiming her terra was under attack, and since Cyclonia and Adamanttia have a history together we offered them access to our technology."

The three Storm hawks looked surprised.

"A history?" asked Piper. "You mean, your people worked with the _Cyclonians?"_

"Yes," said Qin " The door way was given to them by us, a bridge between Atmos and Terra. But over 500 years ago or so they just stopped opening the door. The connection was lost, and we have never known why."

Piper's eyebrows pulled together in thought.

"None the less, we will do what we can to help you. Please, come with me." said Qin leading them inside the tower. The Storm Hawks followed, and Aerrow looked over at Piper, still in thought.

"What is it?" asked Aerrow.

"I'm just thinking," said Piper. "Five hundred years ago is about when the first Skyknights rose up against Cyclonia."

"What about before that?" asked Aerrow scanning the room- they were some sort of vast chamber. A large round table was in the center.

"Not sure, most of the history books just say that almost all of Atmos was ruled by Cyclonia."

"You think then maybe the SkyKnights hid the doorway?" Aerrow whispered.

"I don't know," said Piper. "How come then nothing in Atmosia's library mentioned the door? You'd think the SkyKnights would remember something like that."

Qin up ahead had stopped at a set of tall doors. He signalled to the guards at them.

"Whatever happened," said Aerrow. "Maybe the answers-"

The doors opened.

"-are here."

* * *

**A/N: 1. Now you know why this story is called Terra. Terra, by the way, means Earth or land. It is also the name of my dog.**

**2. The name of the city 'Adamanttia' I derived from the word adamant meaning 'strong' or 'unbreakable', The word diamond is also derived from the same word. **

**3. I am almost certain that Radarr came from the farside. Mostly cuz the crystal thiniges the Nightcrawlers wore were allergic to him- and that makes sense if you think about it terms of evolution and survival. And the fact we have never seen anything like him in Atmos, and no one seems to know what he is. As for the name of his race:**** Fidits- derived from the latin word fido, meaning trust or confide. **


	17. Language Barriers

**A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the long hiatus. My sis was on the comp a lot, the Olympiques are going on (GO CANADA!) then the comp got a virus, and this chap in particular was just difficult and it has brought to my attention some finer details of the story that need working out. This whole chap seems weird to me. Make sure you keep reviewing to tell me what you think. Next update should not take as long. **

* * *

"Hello. My name is Carnelian and I will be your guide."

She was a pretty Krystallion, with orange frizzy hair, and glowing light orange eyes. She wore a light blue dress to her knees. Except for her face, crystal faucets of orange-red popped out of her skin. Among the glittering shards on her chest was a single oval cut crystal, the most shocking colour of blue.

The Storm Hawks and the Krystallion council had already discussed the matters at hand. The Krystallions unfortunately had no way of helping them get back to Atmos, but they were happy to help to give them a place to stay, and to help them if they needed it.

"My granddaughter here will help you Storm Hawks find your way around and hopefully, stop you from getting into any trouble," Qin said. Then he looked over at Sept on his shoulder. "You go with them too Sept." he said and the little Fidit saluted and hopped down onto the ground.

"So what would you like to do first?" asked Carnelian. "I could give you a tour of Adamanttia if you'd like."

"Oh that would be amazing!" exclaimed Piper.

Carnelian smiled and signalled for them to follow. The Krystallion led them back out onto the balcony where the dragon things were waiting.

"Who's a good divum? Quinas Divum Everto? Yes _you are_." said Carnelian petting the dull brown Sky Demon and giving the excited creature a kiss on it's bronze helmet.

"Sky Demon?" asked Piper translating the words in her head.

Carnelian smiled. "Yup. Not the most appropriate of names. Nothing very demonic about these guys. This my Sky Demon, Kaela."

Piper reached out and scathed the Sky Demon right behind the ears. "Hello Kaela." she said.

Aerrow was watching from afar. The other Sky Demon, white with red lines from before had taken an interest in him and curiously sniffed. Then it licked him, which of course, didn't work, because his tongue went right through him. He tried licking him again this time throwing his whole head into the motion.

Which again didn't work, sending the Sky Demon into a frantic attempt, to lick Aerrow from any side much to Aerrow's annoyance.

"Sky Demons are actually very timid and gentle creatures ," Carnelian continued, speaking with Piper. "they wouldn't harm a fly- Roofus! Stop that!"

The Sky Demon froze, jaws wide open over Aerrow's head, caught in the act. Aerrow's arms were crossed and he was stoically annoyed.

The Sky Demon snapped it mouth shut on his head.

Aerrow sighed and walked away like the Sky Demon's mouth was no more solid than he was.

The Sky Demon Roofus made an annoyed grunt.

Aerrow, Piper, Carnelian, Radarr and Sept hopped onto Kaela's back and took off, Roofus following close behind. Afterall, why should he be left all alone on the balcony while Kaela got to go flying with the tasty-smelling strangers?

* * *

_Meanwhile…._

"This will never work," said the red headed boy to the blue haired girl once they were alone. They were standing on the Condor's bridge, the boy watching the girl yank up a panel from the floor.

"They're stupider than you think," the girl remarked. She grinned deviously as she pulled out some strangely coloured crystals and placed them into the hole in the flooring.

"Maybe they are," he growled, "but do you think the Skyknight council is going to be fooled as easily? Or the other Skyknights?"

The girl slammed the panel back into place. "We only need to fool them for a while," she said. "And it shouldn't be too hard. You've fooled Skyknights before."

But the boy was not reassured by this. Instead he felt rather ill.

"How long do we have to put on this act?" the boy grumbled.

"_As long as need be_," the girl snapped. "Now stop your complaining. Write a note telling those idiots where we've gone. We have to go down to the council. And after that were going to take a little side trip to the wastelands to _check up _on Cyclonia."

The boy just grunted in response and did as he was told.

* * *

_A couple days later…_

The Adamanttia library was _gorgeous._

And Piper was pretty much in love with it. She had spent quite a bit of time (and she planned on spending more) in between the shelves of the large building. It was quiet on the upper levels where the more historical and informational books were kept versus the entertainment section below. It smelt too, but in a nice way. It smelt musty, of old paper and mystery. The light of the crystal chandeliers was soft yellow like daylight.

Piper propped up the book.

"Hinale sorbok naimemna?" she said.

"Bonta!" Carnelian replied. "You're a natural," she then said.

"Well, I already have studied a bit of this language before," she admitted. She looked to her left. "How are you going Aerrow?"

Aerrow was sitting (or floating) on the table, a book opened in front of him and a deep frown on his face.

"I asked Qin if he could teach me some of the Fidit language and he gave me this book. Only problem is," he said looking at the messy scribbles on the page, _" I don't get any of it."_

Radarr stood on the table next to Aerrow. Aerrow flipped a page in the book (it had taken him all yesterday just learning how to move things) and then cleared his throat and made a series of chirping and squawking noises then looked at his co-pilot.

Radaar stared blankly back.

Aerrow looked back down at the book and tried another phrase, chirping and squawking again.

Radarr burst out laughing much to the Skyknight's confusion, and he got the feeling he hadn't said it right. When Sept hopped onto the table to investigate the noise, Radarr chattered to him and pointed at Aerrow and then they both started laughing uncontrollably.

Even Carnelian giggled knowing a bit of Fidit herself.

Aerrow's shoulders slumped.

"You need to practice your pronunciation," said Carnelian. "Lingua obex."

Piper smiled to herself and folded up the book she had been reading and placed it onto the pile of other books on table. She lifted the heavy pile that teetered just over here eyes and started towards the shelves.

Aerrow looked over from Piper to the Krystallion.

"So how do you know so much Atmosian?" asked Aerrow.

"Grandfather taught it to me from a young age. It certainly has been useful with all the strangers who seem to wander into our land."

"You mean like, besides Cyclonis?" asked Aerrow. She nodded.

"Who?"

Piper turned the corner at one the aisles, the books blocking her vision. She didn't' see the person in front of her.

**Wham!**

The two people went sprawling, books flew and then fell through the air.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry-" said Piper. "Je regretis-"

"Watch where you're going!" an angry voice return. He spoke Atmosian.

Piper looked over to where the other person was gruffly picking up some lose scrolls.

"_You!" _she yelled, unable to control her sudden outrage.

The man looked over, surprised, then sneered. "Not _you_ again. Everywhere I go you just have to show up."

He grabbed his scrolls, stood up, and then fixed the titled beige hat on his head.

Piper stood up too. _"Domiwick," _she said distastefully. She pulled out staff and it expanded out full-length. He dropped the scrolls in response and from his back pulled out his blade, and it lit up bright yellow.

Their weapons met, the bang echoed through the library. Carnelian and Aerrow jumped in surprise. They rushed over.

Carnelian and the Fidits turned into the aisle.

"Stop!" she yelled in distress. "What's going on?Why are you fighting?"

"Let me handle this," said Aerrow to her. He flew up near the ceiling towards the battle, then descended behind Domiwick. He tapped him on the shoulder.

Predictably, Domiwick turned around. He jumped back and yelled in surprise at the sight of Aerrow's ghostly form. Then, in puzzlement, he looked him up and down.

"_What the heck happened to you?"_

Aerrow's face was one of annoyance. "Cyclonis." he replied. Domiwick sneered at him.

Piper growled angrily at Domiwick and slashed her staff at him. But Domiwick heard her and whipped around and blocked her attack, slashing his sword through Aerrow in the process.

"You stole my breather!" Piper accused. " Aerrow almost died because of you!" She swung her staff. His weapon clashed with Piper's.

" Why would _he_ almost die if I took your breather?"

Piper was slightly thrown off by the question. Domiwick slashed his sword at her staff but she blocked accurately.

"Because he gave me his." Piper said plainly, answering his question.

Domiwick glanced at Aerrow.

"_Idiot." _

"Please," Carnelian begged. "Stop!"

"Piper," said Aerrow. "This isn't the place."

"He's working for the Cyclonians," she argued.

"_Worked _for the Cyclonians," he replied.

Suddenly the two were surrounded in a light purple glow and they were lifted up into the air.

"While you are in my city and under _my _watch there will be no fighting," declared Qin, stepping forward, staff in hand. Undoubtedly, he had been in the library himself and had heard the fight going on. He lowered his staff. The two fell to the ground. Domiwick scrambled to his feet.

"These are two are serious criminals and have caused me a lot of trouble," he accused, poiting a finger. "You should lock them up."

"That isn't true," argued Piper. "He-"

"Silence!" the old man yelled. "I will not take sides in this war of yours. This is a neutral zone. As long as you are here there shall be no fighting. _Is that understood?"_

Piper and Domiwick exchanged one last glance of animosity then reluctantly nodded.

Aerrow floated over to Piper and offered his hand to help her up. She went to grab it but her hand slid right through.

"Sorry." He said apologetically, holding out his hand again, making it more solid. She gave him an amused smile and went to grab his hand again, but it kept going through. Aerrow looked at his hand with a confused look. "Sorry…again."

Irritated, Piper got up herself.

Although Domiwick left the library Piper saw him there many times again.

"I know he's working with the Cyclonians," Piper said later to Aerrow. "And he's probably feeding information to Cyclonis. We just to figure when and how. If we can figure that out we might be able find a way back to Atmos. " Aerrow ofcourse, agreed.

One night Piper was in the library late, looking over some maps and history texts. She also had some papers and was making notes .

A couple times she spotted Domiwick prowling the bookshelves. They exchanged sneers with every glance.

He's been researching too, thought Piper. Cyclonis had been here a couple days before and no doubt they were still communicating. How? Probably the Doorway, since Cyclonis would probably have access to it. It disturbed Piper deeply to think about what Cyclonis might be doing disguised as her, or what the Dark Ace might be doing as Aerrow. She hoped her teammates would figure it out.

_What's his plan?, _thought Piper. _Or more accurately, Cyclonis' plan?_

Under the light of her small Glow crystal she scribed.

When she was done with the map she stood up and stretched. She picked up the atlas book and started looking for the aisle marked '_Yuata' _so she could put the book back. Finally she found the aisle and located the empty slot. As she went to put the book back she glanced through to the next row over. Directly across was a particularly thick book. Old by the looks of it.

And probably chalk-full of information, thought Piper. She slipped the atlas into it's spot and walked over to the next aisle. The old book was lodged in tight and she had to cradle it with her whole left arm and rest the top against the shelf. She opened the crystal embedded cover to a brilliantly decorated title page. The moonlight from the windows show on the page, reflecting on the gold writing.

'_Universa Rector ey Krystals: Volubilis Quinque : Unique Calx' _

Piper translated the title in her head.

_The Complete Guide of Crystals : Volume Five : Unique Stones_

Immediately she was enthralled, and she began to eagerly flip through the pages. She stopped suddenly, staring wide eyed at the page.

"_No way…"_


	18. Pubescent Corpse

**A/N: SORRY! *sigh* Again. I've been on a big brain blank for this story for a while, continuously promising myself I would set aside a date to sort through the whole thing. Never really got around to it. But I have made a breakthrough and am back in business!*knock on wood cuz I don't want to jinx myself*. Hopefully you guys are still interested enough to stick through with this till the end. Thanks for all the reviews so far! They meant a lot.**

* * *

**Dark Ace's POV**:

I couldn't stand the sight of this place. Not the sight, not the sound, or the smell, or any of it.

_It shouldn't bother me_, I thought to myself. _Not after all this time_. _I'm a different person now ( well that's an _understatement_). And this old palace? That's all it is. A place from another life. Somebody else's life. A life I have already ended._

But I didn't know whose life I was thinking of: Aerrow's or mine?

Cyclonis seemed all too contempt with her disguise on the other hand. She even seemed to be enjoying herself - despite yesterday's close call with the funeral-party for the blue thing called Radarr (I admit, I had racked the boy's brain about that one, though it seemed even he had never known what it was). Luckily, she had known one story about the rat-monkey, from her own involvement in it. Like that story long ago, here she was again, disguised as another person on board the Condor, fooling the Storm Hawks.

It was much the same for me. Except, I wasn't enjoying myself.

Cyclonis confined herself to the girl's room and crystal lab. Not much surprising there. I guess she wanted to see how far the other girl had ever gotten with her research, what crystals she had possessed and etcetera. She read her journals, maps, and delving through whatever else she could find. She, unlike myself, had no one's brain to rummage through (though I wouldn't put it past her, since she seems to known plenty of ways to get into a person's head) and had to figure out everything she could about the ship and girl she was pretending to be. And even though her façade wasn't perfect, she was comfortable with it.

Me? Not one bit.

I couldn't sleep. I took one step into Aerrow's room, knowing full well after some brain searching which room it was, and I knew I would not sleep well. Not in Aerrow's room.

Not in _his _room.

I tried, the first night, and came down with an extreme case of insomnia. I felt sick. The boy's impression was still thick in his body. His admiration for the person who had slept in this room before him- it made me ill. I still felt as though the body was rejecting me, trying to force me back out his body so it could die empty. I wondered which would be expelled first; my soul or my stomach.

I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and stalked out onto the bridge, the Atmosian stars shining though the windshield and a horrible feeling of nostalgia washed over me. How many times as a teen, barely older then the boy I was in now, had I wandered out onto the bridge a night before or after a serious battle? How many times had I not been alone?

I grabbed onto the sofa trying to stable myself as my legs nearly gave out below me and a surge of hot energy spread through my body right down to the bones. I gritted my teeth trying to stop the energy from seeping out of me.

Not only was I trapped in my sworn enemy's pubescent corpse, and not only had he been the spawn of my old adversary, but I also happened to be a _freaking_ time-bomb ready to go off at any moment. Sure, power is nice, when it doesn't kill you, and I was fortunate to be alive _at all. _But this crystal energy inside me, bonded to my soul, it was like a constant rush. I needed to fight. I needed to fly. I hoped it would at least fade enough for me to function properly. And sometimes it was like it was alive, that energy. In the back of my head, connected to that power…something…well, it didn't speak. It just sat. Lived. But I knew it was there. I mean, the crystal shields the Nightcrawlers wore- _they'_d been _alive_. Maybe the crystal bonded to me had been too. When I tried to think of it…well. It _had looked _like eyes on the side.

After a moment the energy died down, and I felt myself relax. Maybe I couldn't sleep because of this energy rush. _Yes, _I convinced myself. _That's it. _And if I didn't sleep so what? I'd still have the energy high to keep me going. I'd simultaneously be lowering the rush and avoiding...well avoiding what?

Avoiding _him_, my thoughts unwillingly conjured up. Thinking about him. Well so what if I did? What did I care? He was dead. He'd been dead for years. They'd all been dead for years. And now his son, the sore reminder of him and my old life was dead now too. And soon, all the new Storm Hawks and the Condor would be nothing but splatters in the wasteland again like they had always been meant to be.

But not quite yet.

I stood up straight and wandered up to the glass trying to focus on something else, like Cyclonia.

We, Cyclonis and I, had already visited the survivor camps several times trying to keep things in order. My appearance startled some of the Talons, but once Cyclonis had explained the situation they seemed pleased enough. I had to admit again I was amazed by the Master's planning skills. The Warp crystals Ravess and Snipe had gathered, originally meant to be used to travel to the Farside, had been put to good use evacuating the terra as it fell. Skyknights and their damn morals. Killing and harming innocent people is only wrong as long as their on _your _side.

The camps were relatively organized too, survivors taking refuge underground on some of the colonial terras and in the wastelands.

Cyclonia was far from beat. I knew that, given the leverage, Cyclonis would find a way to lift the terra from the dirt. If that fool explorer Domiwick did his job, Cyclonis would find something powerful enough in the Farside to reconstruct her empire. And I would be the driving force of her armies the whole way.

I sighed out letting that information soothe me. But as I did something meagre and bothersome cried out against these plans. This little part of me, or him I should say, was anxious over this news. _Cyclonia is evil! Cyclonia must be stopped!_

I gritted my teeth together and put a hand to my head. Idiot boy. Had he really seen things so black and white?

Following in dear old Dad's footsteps, I guessed.

My eyes focused in from the sky to my reflection in the glass. Not just Aerrow's reflection, but _his_ reflection.

I gagged.

The irony was retch-worthy.

_I was his son._

* * *

I.J Domiwick was not a traitor in the purist sense of the word. He was neither loyal to Cyclonia or the Skyknights or any other terra in particular. He didn't care for the war, nor did he feel required to join a side, but instead chose to remain relatively neutral. However, when it came down to it, Cyclonia was the terra most interested in his discoveries, and the terra most willing to fund him. It was business, and he was not prejudice towards them (or their money). Then the Storm Hawks had stumbled in and let their own grudges interfere with his work. _'Blah, blah, blah, Cyclonia is evil..how could you ? Etc…' _He never really could believe how naïve they were. Didn't they see how the real world worked? Either you grabbed the chance or someone else did. Furthermore, they had completely messed up his dig, ruined him in the eyes of Atmos, and time again, tried to stop and steal the glory for themselves. The glory of his excavations. _His _glory.

He didn't plan on letting them steal anything more. When Cyclonis had first arrived through the Doorway, she made it quite clear to him that he could either help her or be bowled over. He chose the previous clearly, promising that in return for his help and knowledge, she would make sure he had a long, happy life as the man who discovered the Farside and conquered it's secrets. It was an explorer's dream.

So, with that in mind, as he crept through the shelves of Adamanttia's library, he could not help but pause to listen in on someone else's secrets.

"-ok so what was it you wanted to show us?" came a boy's voice.

Domiwick stopped and turned, back pressed to the end of one of the shelves. He turned his head, peeking from behind his hiding spot.

It was Piper, the orange haired Krystallion girl, some of those , what were they called the rats? Fidits?- and the ghost of that boy Aerrow (he still could not wrap his head around _that _bizarre spectacle) standing around one of the tables in the library. A large old book was sitting on it's spine, contents spread open for the viewers. Piper was on one side of the table facing the others.

"I was up almost all night looking at this." she started sounding excited. "We're really on to something. _The Complete Guide of Crystals : Volume Five : Unique Stones. _It's about one of a kind powerful crystals- specific stones that are of high grade, or special among their class. Oh I wish I had spotted this earlier! I mean, imagine if the people back in Atmos got a look at this. They'd have a hey day!"

Aerrow and Carnelian nodded in understanding

Piper smiled. "Oh there is just _so _much and I barely scrapped the surface with it. Did you know that the author actually worked with some of these crystals hands-on?" Usually Finn would have said something like 'lame' or 'high points' right now and she was glad he wasn't there to interrupt her- and she as she thought _that _she wished he was there to interrupt her. Him and the others, obnoxious or not. Obnoxious and _alive. _

"Well, um, anyways…" Piper continued. "There are a lot of crystals in here, though some are just supposed to be legends. This map," she said pointing down at the opened book and it's two large pages illustrating some land, "shows the whole, or most of Terra. This here in the center is Adamanttia . Marked on this map are the locations of these rare crystals. Like over here," her finger darted to the east, "is the Anti-seer crystal."

"The Anti-seer crystal?" asked Aerrow confused. "What's that?"

"It's like the Oracle crystal in a way, except of seeing into the future, it shows events from the past."

"Like…a visual history book?"

"The biggest most detailed history book _ever." _said Piper, her enthusiasm bubbling over. "And right close by," she continued, her finger tracing to a proximate white patch, "is a place called the Ghost Hole. It's a cavern filled with premium Spirit crystals, a large enough deposit that the spirits of the dead are said to be able to cross over to the side of living here."

"That is…really creepy." Aerrow replied and Radarr nodded in agreement.

"Heh," Piper laughed, then added slyly, "We should take Stork there sometime." Then both their faces fell, thinking of their co-pilot who was both terrified and fascinated by the strange.

"What's..uh..that?" asked Aerrow trying to change the subject and he pointed to the far left corner of the map, where the area had been painted grey.

"Huh," said Piper titling her head curiously at the spot. "I'm not sure. Carnelian?"

Carnelian glanced at the map. "Ah. That is the Drain." She said. "The energy of Terra becomes weak there. People get lost. Many strange sights have come from that region. Including, people like yourselves."

Aerrow and Piper looked at her in surprise. "You mean, other Atmosians?"

She nodded. "And this lake," she went on, pointing to a blue patch near the city, "is where the explorer Domiwick came up from. While these caves…" she continued waving her pale hand over to another area that looked desolately grey-green and full of black spots, "Even stranger sights have passed through here. Many again who spoke of Atmos."

"Weird." said Aerrow. "I guess our worlds are more connected then we thought." And he threw Carnelian one of his contagious, boyish smiles which she could not help but returned.

"But that isn't it," said Piper directing everyone's attention again. "There's more." Her lithe finger pointed to a spot above the city and deeper into the center of Terra. "That," she said. "that right there is supposed to be the place of the most powerful crystal _ever."_

Aerrow looked up at Piper, unable to believe what he was hearing. Their eyes bore into each other, an invisible flow of communication. He eyebrows met.

"The Helix crystal," he finished.

Piper nodded solemnly.

"But…that..._that's just a legend." _He said. He looked over at Carnelian. "Isn't it?"

Carnelian looked from Aerrow to Piper.

"An Adamanttian explorer once travelled to that spot," she said pointing her elegant white finger at the map. "She saw a brilliant crystal in the form of a double helix, like an orange Infinnity stone. No other explorers have been to that exact place, but many who had travelled around that area have said to have felt a great power near by. We have always assumed it to be that crystal."

"But you don't know?" asked Aerrow.

Carnelian cocked her head. "We cannot know for sure."

"But...why not?" asked Piper. "It really isn't that far from the city at all! Hasn't anyone tried find it?"

Carnelian seemed to wrinkled her nose. "Do you see this?" she asked pointing back to the map at the dark purple splotches. The splotches made a near wonky and odd ring around the vicinity of Adamanttia.

"Yeah," said Piper. "I was wondering about those. When I translate the name I get-"

"The Fields of Death." said Carnelian, rigidly. "To cross them is impossible."

"Why?" asked Aerrow. Impossible-shmoshibble. He'd done too many things others had called impossible.

"Did you not hear me?" said Carnelian gesturing. "To even be near these fields- your weapons, your machines will all power down. I have flown near them once. I could feel my energy waning." She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "The sight of those purple crystal, for miles on…."

Piper's eyes widened with realization and she glanced down at the map.

"You mean...all these purple bits? Those are all," She looked at Carnelian. _"Leech crystals?"_

Carnelian nodded gravely.

"Of course," Piper exclaimed, revelation in her eyes. "The Krystallions are a crystal-based life form, and Leech crystals drain crystal energy. So your people could never travel near them without having their energy drained."

"Woah, woah, woah," said Aerrow holding up his hands. He had dealt with Leech crystals, and from what he had seen he didn't like them, but there was something else about them he had noticed on those occasions.

"If these really are all Leech crystal," he said. "Then wouldn't they have, you know, blown up by now?"

"Not necessarily," said Piper. "Judging by the size of these fields I figure any available energy flows through them, crystal to crystal, and levels out. It would take a big gust of energy at once to cause any explosions."

"Okay," said Aerrow. "So it's not like we'd set them off with our weapons or anything?"

"Doubtful," Piper agreed.

"What are you talking about?" asked Carnelian, her Adamanttian accent becoming more apparent by her distress. "They way you speak you make it sound like you are planning to cross them!"

"That's because we are," said Aerrow standing straight. "If the Helix crystal really is as powerful as the legends say then you can bet Cyclonis will be after it. She did a lot of damaged with the Aurora stone. I'd hate to see what she could do with something more powerful."

"Please," said Carnelian distraught, " The field are very dangerous. You should not risk traversing them. Besides, I do not think Cyclonis knows of the Helix crystal. She was much too busy with the other Council members and my grandfather when she was here to come to the library."

"_Which is why she sent me_," Domiwick whispered to himself from behind the shelf, a grin spreading across his face. The most powerful crystal ever. Hundreds before had searched vainly all over Atmos for the legendary rock. It was an explorer's ultimate dream, right next to discovering the Farside, to find the Helix crystal. He'd already done the first so what was to stop him now? But a journey like that would require men and supplies. Something he was a bit short of now. Cyclonis would be willing enough to spare some, but she'd expect the crystal in return. No matter. As long as the credit of the find went to _him. _

Slowly, and quietly, Domiwick slithered away from the group. In several days Cyclonis was due to return he was to report to her on what he had found. So it was just an issue of waiting and researching for now- as well as making sure those Storm Hawks didn't leave for the crystal before him. How had they gotten to the Farside anyways? By the sounds of it they hadn't come through any of the ways that Krystallion girl had mentioned. Then the door like Cyclonis? So Cyclonis had lost possession of it then? Only, now the Storm Hawks couldn't get back, so she must have regained it as well. It began to dawn on Domiwick that things must have gotten very tense lately in Atmos. He himself had no idea of what had happened to Cyclonia or the rest of the Atmos since he had disappeared into the Endless Caverns. He'd been living in Adamanttia for over two months now, gaining the Krystallion's trust.

"Maybe," said Piper. "But I don't think we can risk it. On the other hand, we're not in much of a position to look for it." Her eyes wandered to Aerrow.

"What? Me?" he said. "Oh c'mon on Piper. What worse could happen to me?"

"I don't know Aerrow. I think we need to focus on getting your body back…and finding the others."

Aerrow seemed to freeze up at the mention of the team "You...think they're all right?"

Piper couldn't hold his gaze.

"I wish we could find out." she muttered quietly.

For a sombre moment they hung their heads, staring unseeingly at the table. Carnelian felt out of place with their sorrow. Aerrow's head suddenly popped up.

"Wait…you mentioned the Anti-Oracle crystal?"

"Anti-seer crystal." Piper corrected.

"And it can see into the past?"

"Yeah…" she answered unsure of what he was getting at.

"Then maybe it can give us an idea of how the others are. It can't tell us what happening now, but maybe what happened a couple days ago? That's past isn't it?"

"Actually...It might work," said Piper, thoughtfully touching her chin . A chance to figure out how the others were doing and look at an ancient powerful crystal? It would take some mapping, and planning but those were just her thing too. She picked up the old book and shut it determinedly.

"Let's try it."


	19. Broken and Rebuilding

**Chapter 19: Broken and Rebuilding**

**Cyclonis' POV: **

It had almost been comical, watching the faces of those Skyknights as we performed the Binding seamlessly. They'd been nosy, prying to find out how I was able to utilize the crystal energy in such a way. I doubted that, even if I had given them step by step personalized lessons they would ever be able to master such a delicate and powerful art. So the Dark Ace and I, or _Aerrow_ as I had to call him, decided to do a small demonstration, mainly because it would solidify our personas as the Storm Hawks. I wondered coyly if they would be so admiring of the Binding once it used to destroy them.

Though, no matter how comical their faces were, watching the reactions of the Storm Hawks as I revealed myself to be Master Cyclonis was far more pleasurable.

I knew the moment Piper's Blocking crystal had disappeared I was in trouble. Then 'Aerrow' had spoken to me later that day, explaining that the suspicions of the others.

"So be it," then I had said. "I've done enough here. As we speak the Nightcrawlers are retrieving the Door. My disguise is no longer of use. You on the other hand," I said. "will stay here. I want you to sabotage the ship and take out the rest of the Storm Hawks. When you have completed that task report back."

And so it had been. That was the plan. Less than an hour after my reveal I was back at the Head Base, marveling once again how smooth things were going.

"Master Cyclonis?" The un-uniformed Talons said in surprise as I appeared before them, startling them somewhat I suppose.

"We were not expecting you back so soon."

I turned around to face them, narrowing my eyes and setting straight about to business. "_Where _is _the Door?"_

All according to plan.

The Nightcrawlers had gotten the door without a hitch. I grinned as the tool for Cyclonia's revival was set out before me. The key was, of course, in my pocket.

"Excellent." I said to myself, then looked to the nearest Talon. "How are our forces?"

He saluted. "Severely damaged Master. We suffered quite a blow. Luckily the Warp Crystals you had stationed were able to evacuate most people."

I nod. Damages were to be expected. But all things considered, there was still a lot to work with. Many cowards had defected though. Numbers were low. Oh well. The army was better off without them.

By the end of the day the Dark Ace was due to finish off what was left of the Storm Hawks. I would continue working in the wastelands quietly, rebuilding the empire and my forces. I would return to the Farside and restock my crystals, find something more powerful, and use it to resurrect Cyclonia.

That was the plan.

I stared out over the mess of tents and cabins set up over the area. Reduced to living in the wastelands. It's only temporary, I told myself. Everything had been stripped of it's Cyclonian emblem. Even I had to don a simple red cloak/robe over myself. We didn't need to be discovered, not before we were ready. We would take our time. I would not fail. I could not fail. I had come so close to tasting victory. I would not mess up again.

I had the door, the Storm Hawks were as good as dead, and once I organized things a bit more down here I could return to the Farside and restock on supplies, weapons, and crystals.

There was the plan. I had a plan.

I dimly recalled a conversation I had once had with Piper millennia ago when I'd pretended to be a girl named 'Lark', about how the boys on her team never followed her plans correctly, and that something always went wrong. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't Piper and that my army was a lot more mature than her boys.

But I wasn't an optimist. I was a realist.

And the Dark Ace had screwed up before.

* * *

"_Don't worry Piper, were coming for you." _

"_I'm afraid I can't let you do you that." _

_I watched in cold horror as Aerrow's hand reached behind his back, slowly towards one of his blades._

_Fast as lighting, he turned to the panel, and blades a glowing, dug them into the board, ripping the wiring with a horrible metallic screech as the Condor's controls were torn and melted apart. _

_The Condor began to lurch violently._

"_Aerrow never came back from that fight, did he?" I asked weakly._

_No," he said simply. "He didn't." and he raised his blade up to bear the final strike._

"_Get away from my friends!!!" _

"_This is the second time, I've betrayed the Storm Hawks."_

_Stork's eye was twitching wildly as he looked over the burning controls. _

_The clouds disappeared very suddenly then, revealing the unwelcoming sight of the Wastelands._

"_Were gonna crash!" _

"_Dude!" _

"_Abandon ship," Stork angrily whispered._

"_What?" _

"_There's no time!"_

_Miles disappeared between them and the ground. Whirling and whining, diving through the air. Hello ground! Give me a __**big**__ hug!_

"_But- we just got her fixed up! We can't lose her again!'_

"_She's just a ship!" _

"_We have to get out of here," said Junko urgently. "Now."_

There was no time to get to the hanger bay.

The ship crashed.

*-*-*

Above it, a red-headed figure idled on a sky-ride. He should have been happy, and at first he had been. Now he was frowning.

_I didn't see anything._

That's what the Dark Ace thought as flew around on Aerrow's skimmer observing the billowing smoke fires of the Condor, marooned below him.

The mind is a funny thing. It has a great inability to distinguish between actual memories versus dreams and fantasies. It's in fact very easy to fool your mind, and in return to fool yourself.

I didn't see anything, the Dark Ace thought to himself for the fifth time and he was starting to believe it. It was just the smoke.

He told himself this lie because he had thought for the slightest second that he had seen a parachute. It was possibly one of the kids had had one on them at the time. But when he thought about going after them, slicing the ropes or their throats the little voice in the back of his head, the bit of Aerrow still in him threw an almighty hissy fit, and made him sick to his stomach. Killing them straight on would be difficult, because of the emotions and memories still in that body. So he told himself he hadn't seen anything, because then he wouldn't have to investigate, he wouldn't have to find them .

And he wouldn't have to kill them himself.

After all, he hadn't seen anything.

*-*-*

WoooooooaaaaAHHHHH!

**_SLAM._**

Three entangled bodies fell tumbling to the ground in the most bizarre wallop/merb/human snowball probably ever to exist. And a parachute. Stork's parachute (which he often wore despite the fact he hardly ever left the ship) was also there entangled among the three, although it hadn't done much good being weighed down by three people, one being a wallop. Junko stood up first but as he did he pulled on the string wrapped around is left foot it tugged on the fabric under Stork yanking his footing and causing him to fall over on the ground. Then as Stork went to get up the strings around him tightened on Finn choking the blond.

"Guh-can't breath-" wheezed Finn. For a moment they tried to untangled themselves, Junko having to finally pull up Finn from the mess by the shoulders.

The second he was on his feet he pointed to sky. "Quick hide!" he said seeing the skimmer circling them like a vulture.

All three dove behind some rocks trying to be as small as possible. The sky-ride circled like a vulture disappearing between clouds and smoke. They waited, till finally, the skimmer and it's rider flew off. They let out a sigh of relief and were quiet. The only noise was of the Condor dying and groaning.

"What..uh," said Junko looking to the others. "...just happened?"

Finn's hands curled into fists. "We got our butts kicked that's what just happened!" he didn't look at the others as he began to shout. " I can't believe it! Man, we must be the biggest idiots alive. We can't even tell our friends from our enemies!"

_Some friends you really are…_

The others looked down, guilty. Piper had been a shock, but this? Aerrow? It was like a slap in the face. That was twice now (three if you counted the incident with 'Lark'). Half their team was gone.

Junko sniffed. "So..what do we do now?"

Finn turned on him, scoffing. "_Do? _What can we do? We're _done_, we've lost. That's it. Goodbye!" he ranted. "We have no Aerrow, no Piper, no Radarr, and now-" he shouted voice filling up the empty wastelands, above the sound of sizzling, "-we have no Condor!" he gestured to the large metal bird burning, and creaking, as bits of their practically brand new ship fell off. He sighed with himself disgusted.

"But.." started Junko looking ready to cry. He'd never seen Finn get so mad, not like this, before. "Were the Storm Hawks, Finn. Storm Hawks don't give up."

Finn rounded on him and, despite the fact he was so much smaller than Junko, he got right in his face, venting out all his frustration on him.

"Storm Hawks?" he said bitterly. "Look around Junko. We have no ship. No navigator or crystal mage. _We don't have a Skyknight anymore." _And without a SkyKnight you aren't a squadron. "We aren't Storm Hawks," said Finn turning away, sulking. He sat down on a small rock. _"We aren't anything."_

"We can't give up!" interjected Junko. "The others need us!"

"Junko's right man. " Stork joined in. "They're gonna need us."

Finn snorted. He felt miserable. For the umpteenth time he had failed. Had he noticed sooner- had he paid attention. Maybe if they'd all gone on recon together…. It was stupid to split up the team! "_Need us?" _Finn spat, glaring at them. "Look at us!" he exclaimed. "We can't even take care of ourselves and we're suppose to rescue them? Since when has it ever gone that way?"

"What do mean?" asked Junko meekly. Why did everything have to go wrong? They needed to stick together now, more than ever. So why were they fighting?

"Oh c'mon," said Finn. "Think about it. It's always _them_ rescuing _us. _Oh well maybe it's just me most of the time-" how many times had his skimmer been sliced in half, no parachute for back up?- "But it's never _us _saving them. Aerrow always saves the day and Piper always has a plan and were just the guys in the background looking good."

"That," said Stork raising a finger, "Isn't entirely _true. _We went to Terra Vapos against the Murk raiders and did just fine."

"Oh yeah great," muttered Finn. "One out of fifty-three's not bad."

Junko and Stork were taken aback. This wasn't like Finn at all, grouchy, sarcastic.

Stork screeched frustrated. "What _is_ wrong with you?!" he shouted advancing at the blond.

"What's wrong with me?" mirrored Finn standing to Stork who was towering over him. "What's wrong is that my friends are trapped on the other side of Atmos, Cyclonis is back and I think the Dark Ace to boot, our home is destroyed and there's nothing we can do about any of it! _Wah-hey_!"

Stork and Finn were yanked away from each other and suspended in the air by the backs of their shirts, Junko standing between them.

"Stop it." he said sounding both angry and ready to cry. "We can't keep fighting each other." he said. "We're all we have left."

Stork and Finn's faces dropped looking down at the ground ashamed and sad. Junko put them down slowly. Finn itched the back of his head, and Stork, his arm, awkwardly.

They were silent for a mintue, more guilt thrown into the mixture. "Sorry," said Finn much quieter now. "I just...I can't believe we fell for it. It just seems like we, well, _I, _mess up a lot. Aerrow and Piper are always there to fix things but now…who's gonna lead us?"

The three looked between each other.

"Maybe…" said Stork pulling at his collar. "And I'm going to regret saying this but, maybe you should."

"Uh uh." said Finn immediately. "No way."

"But you like being in charge." said Junko, who would have gladly followed Finn, (even if it had got him in trouble in the past).

"Yeah well," said Finn felling like a bigger idiot by the second. "My track record isn't exactly the best." He sorely recalled the Ultra Dudes and the day he'd been left in charge of the Condor while Aerrow was on his mission with Starling. Yeah those hadn't gone to well. They hadn't bothered him so much before but now his failures ached just a bit. "I'm just not leader material, okay. Stork?"

"Ummm…" Stork began, looking at the expectant faces of Finn and Junko. He suddenly felt like he was camp counsellor for the little merb scouts all over again. "Uhh…" he said uncomfortable. "I have no idea where to begin."

Their shoulders dropped.

"We could just...try working together." said Junko tentatively. "Or take turns. Just until we get Aerrow and Piper back. And Radarr too," he added. "If he's alright."

They look to one another.

"Not much of a choice," said Stork pessimistically.

The three stood around another moment, quiet.

Junko glanced to Finn still sulking, and Stork looking uncomfortable.

He stuck his hand in the middle of the space between them. "Then we do this together.", he said. His team-mates looked surprised, then slowly, bashfully, they put their hands forward, so that all their hands were piled on top of each others' . Small, hesitant smiles spread on their faces, and they nodded.

They were in this together. A lot of things had gone badly lately, but they still had each other. They were still together.

Junko's face broke into a huge childish grin, euphoric that they weren't fighting anymore and in one fell swift move, gathered them up in a bone crushing hug.

"I love you guys!" he proclaimed squeezing them half-to death.

"Same!" squeaked Finn.

"Gah! Yeah, but we like breathing too." choked Stork.

"Oops sorry."

Junko let them go again, and they wheezed feeling for broken ribs. Stork cracked his spine painfully.

"You're right," Finn said, not looking as down anymore. "We have to try anyways." he face felt heavy but he managed to smile anyways, met by grins of the his team-mates. The his glance fell on Stork.

"But I _still _can't believe you abandoned the Condor."

Stork laughed embarrassed, the mood between them significantly lightened. "Yes, well. As much as I love the Condor with all my heart to the depths of eternity…she can be rebuilt." He brushed aside a long lock of black hair. "Friends…aren't so easy to fix."

Finn and Junko's eyes widened and big stupid smiles spread over their faces at hearing their usually aloof and anti-social friend admitting something so un-Storkish.

Junko and Finn tackled him into another hug.

"Gah!" Stork screeched. "Let me go! That was not an invitation for contact! Stop!"

After a moment they let go of him, and he cleared his throat.

"But now that we are no longer in any _imminent _mortal danger," He took in a deep breath and raised a hand in the direction of the Condor, lip trembling and pupils dilated. He fell dramatically to his knees wailing.

"_Not agai-heh-heh- aainn!"_

Finn and Junko smiled sympathetically at him.

"Now _that _sounds more like our Stork." said Finn.

* * *

**A/N: I want too see this happen quite badly. Finn angsty and maturing a bit, Junko holding it together , and Stork admitting that he actually cares about the others as friends.  
**


	20. Radio's Toast

Piper stood looking over the map of the land thinking deeply. She was outside on one of the many balconies of the Infinitus Tower, the tallest building and central hub of all activity in Adamanttia, where she had been staying. Around her some Krystallions had been helping gather supplies needed for the trip to see the Anti-seer crystal. Her heli-scooter, which they had generously found and repaired, stood nearby in waiting.

"Looks like everything's together," said a voice from nowhere. Piper jumped in surprise her hand flying to her heart. Aerrow smoothly materialized into the air.

"Would you cut that out?" said Piper recovering from the initial shock. "That's the second time you've done that."

"Sorry," Aerrow shrugged with a smile. "I'm getting used to this spirit thing." He faded out again, disappearing into the air. "I'm the invisible man!"

Piper rolled her eyes. Negative ten for maturity.

"Wait!"

Piper turned and Aerrow appeared again to see Carnelian running towards them.

She stopped in front of them and they could see she had changed out of her usual dress into pants and a shirt. "I am coming with you." she said.

They looked at her with confusion.

"Are you sure Carnelian?" asked Piper. "You said you didn't want to go before. And we'll be passing near the Dead Zones."

"Yes," replied Carnelian. "But you travelers are still new to this world. And I am supposed to be your guide. This journey to see the Anti-seer is not as perilous as it to the Helix crystal. As long as we stick to the map and take no shortcuts we should be fine."

"And Qin, your grandfather, he's okay with this?" asked Aerrow.

"Of course I am. I'm the one who insisted she'd accompany you."

The old Krystallion walked over leisurely, feeding a biscuit to Sept on his shoulder. "I've also decided that it would be more wise of you to travel with someone already familiar with the area. That's why I asked Cassiter to fly you there on Roofus."

"_Roofus?" _Carnelian said sharply, whirling on her grandfather. "And _Cassiter?"_

"Procul vestri muneris!" (At you service!) shouted a voice from above the balcony. They looked up to see a Sky Demon, the one that had tried to eat Aerrow before, white with red lines and typical metal shielding, flapping it's wings and coming in for a landing. It hit the balcony hard, shaking it slightly. The rider, in all the commotion, had fallen from his seat and slid down the back of the creature flopping onto the ground.

"Je vilis efficio ut." (I meant to do that), he said running a hand through his short and messy, dark silver-grey hair. Like most Krystallions his skin was opaquely white, studded with black and brown crystals, that looked quite metallic. He wore clothes similar in colour, as well as a distinct brown leather vest.

Carnelian groaned and put a hand to her hand.

"Nos es fatumis."

Aerrow looked over to Piper. "_What did she say?" _he whispered.

"Er.." Piper translated in her head. "She said…we're doomed."

*-*-*

"_Doomed." _

Deep breaths, Stork, he told himself. Deep breathes. Keep calm. He held a screw driver in one hand. It might as well have been a rubber duck for all the use it was going to be compared to the damaged done. The inside controls looked like something from a horror movie. It was painful to look at. _My poor, poor baby, _thought Stork. Gutted and gored. Dented and bludgeoned. _My love. My freaking love. _

"Cheer up Stork. It's not so bad." said Junko beside him.

Stork's eye twitched but he manage to refrain from breaking down again.

_She can be rebuilt. She can be rebuilt. It's not nearly as bad as last time. She can…_

Finn let out a whistle upon surveying the mutilation of the ship.

"_Man." _was all he said.

_Man, woman, and child too_, Stork thought_. Heck, throw in some wallops, merbs, and blizzarians just to be fair._

Finn wandered over and touched something on the wall. It fell and broke.

_Twitch. _

He kicked it gently with his foot. "And right after we just got her back too."

Stork groaned and fell to his knees moaning.

"Cursed." He sobbed. " _I'm cursed."_

"Naaaah," said Finn coming up behind and putting hand on his shoulder.

The merb looked over at him wondering what could possibly make him think otherwise.

"S'just the ship that's cursed." consoled Finn.

"_That isn't helping."_ Stork snarled then turned to the controls and groaned again. _She's cursed, I'm cursed, _he mused. It didn't make much of a difference.

"Well, we'd better get started." said Junko cracking his knuckles.

The pilot's head perked up. _"Started? _Where? How? _Do you even have any idea how long this is going to take?_" He replied panic swelling up again. He seemed to teleport from place to place he ranted.

"The engines, the controls, rewiring. With just the three of us I'd calculate it'd take about oooh say…_a month."_

Finn and Junko's faces was of equal disbelief.

"Or…umm" He cleared my throat. "More."

"A whole month?" Junko echoed. "But Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr…we don't have that kind of time."

"Not to mention," Stork continued having to, as always, explain how much worse the situation actually was, "The time it'll take to ready the Condor to go over the barrier cliffs."

Finn groaned exasperatedly grabbing his head in his hands. "We need a plan."

Junko and Stork had nothing. "That's really more…er Piper's domain." said Stork.

"Well now it's our domain," Finn replied trying to add some direction. "Okay so let's think. We can't fix up the Condor ourselves, not fast enough anyways because..." he looked at Stork. He wanted to face-palm himself. Hadn't Finn been listening? Instead he knew that, well, Finn was trying. He figured he ought to try to.

"We need parts, and man power."

"Right," said Finn. "So how do we get that?"

Junko scratched his head idly. "We could get help. From a nearby terra."

Finn nodded like this was all piecing together. "So we can radio for help-"

"Problem." Stork interrupted. "Radio's toast."

Junko's eyes widened. "The radio's made of toast?"

"_Toast_ as in _broken." _It took a bit more effort that time for Stork to keep his temper in check. The ship's condition was a putting a strain on him.

"Then we can fly around on our rides." Finn suggested.

"Damaged them too." Junko said.

"Then we fix 'em," Finn countered. "Hey, am I not looking at the two best mechanics of all time?"

There was a pause.

"Umm…_are_ you?" asked Junko uncertainly.

Finn sighed and quickly slid over next to the wallop, putting his arm around him best he could.

"Junko, how many times have you welded back my ride together after it got sliced in half?"

Junko put a finger to his chin and thought about it. "I can six times off the top of my head."

Finn smiled and slid from Junko to beside Stork. "And you Stork, you built a skimmer all by yourself in record timing 'gainst those Rex Guardians." He then slipped off again quicker than oil.

"Between the two of you I'm sure we can do something."

Stork and Junko looked between each other. He did have a point actually.

"Right." Junko agreed smashing his fist into his hand. "Let's do it!"

On cue both Stork and Junko began to move toward different areas of the ship, bringing out the tool box repair kit and setting to work. Stork paused then, realizing Finn hadn't moved.

"Well?" he goaded.

"What?" asked Finn.

This time Stork did slam his palm to his face. " _Aren't you going to help?" _he asked.

"Oh. Yeah. " said Finn embarrassed. "Right."

_Far above the Wastelands, high the in the sky, the sun moved, continuing it's daily arc. An hour passed. _

_*-*-*_

The sun was mockingly bright. It shone, illuminating Terra Atmosia in a bright array of colours. It was a bit run down admittedly, considering all it had been through in the last months, but it still managed to be cheerful.

It made him scowl, but he reminded himself that it would be out of character.

The young male circled round the terra on his sky ride and clicked the intercom button, opening up to a special frequency.

"_I've reached Terra Atmosia." _he said in a voice a bit deeper and harsher than those familiar with his face were used to.

"_Good." _A young female voice returned. _"Proceed."_

He shut of the radio with a click and then steered his ride down into the open square before the SkyKnight hall. It skidded to a stop. Some pedestrians took notice of his arrival. They smiled and a young boy with short brown hair waved. He pretended he hadn't seen them and continued forward opening up one the tall wooden doors into the hall.

Inside was dimmer. The occupants of the room turned around to see who had interrupted their discussion. The occupants were mostly the aging members of the Skyknight Council, a few other people who were dressed like civilians, and a purple haired woman dressed in armor.

He tried to look casually and smiled in greeting. "Sorry for the lack of warning," he said. "Radio's conked out."

"Aerrow?" said Starling in confusion. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you were on Terra Bogaton preparing the Condor."

"Change of plans," the red-head replied sauntering toward the podium where they were gathered . " We decided I would be of more use here. The others will get to Bogaton themselves and then get Piper. I know they can handle it. But with Cyclonis back and on the loose you're going to need all the help you can here."

Starling cocked her head in small surprise, but said nothing.

"Excellent," replied one the council members. "We could use some help. And actually we've been meaning to get a hold of you."

The teenager looked puzzled. "What for?" he asked.

_*-*-*_

Junko was investigating the burn marks all over the bridge. They were ashy black, and in some places, the metal seemed to have melted somewhat, leaving a rippled, boiled surface.

He ran a hand over them, then looked over to center of the bridge, where the couch had been ripped from the floor. He eyebrows pulled together in thought, then puzzlement. The sofa had been ripped from the floor, and he remember lifting it from Finn but ..._how? _Aerrow_- _no, not Aerrow, he reminded himself- must have done it. But…well, the sofa had been bolted to the floor. No one on board could have lifted it from there except for himself. No human anyways. So…who, and what, had the impostor been? He remembered something odd Finn had said earlier when he had been yelling, although it had slipped his mind.

But…no. It couldn't be. He must have heard wrong.

"Hey Finn?" he asked.

Finn was bending over by some pipes with a wrench in hand. "Huh?" he said turning around and straightening up without thinking. _Bang! _His head whacked into the pipes.

"Oh- Ow!" He rubbed the sore spot on his head, and sighed thinking that by the end of the day, adding up all the things that had happened, he was going to be more purple that Cyclonis. "Yeah Junko?"

"Er-," Junko wasn't sure how to phrase the question. "Earlier when you where, um yelling at us,-"

Finn cringed uncomfortably. "Yeah?"

Even Stork paused where he was to listen to what was going on.

"You said something….about the Dark Ace."

Finn's face was grim. "Yeah. I think he's back."

Stork and Junko looked at him disbelievingly. Finn reminded himself that they hadn't heard what 'Aerrow' had said earlier to him when his blade had been at his throat.

" 'Aerrow'," he started. "The fake one….he said it was the second time he had betrayed the Storm Hawks."

Stork's and Junko's eyes widened.

"And there's only one person I know who fits that description."

"But…The Dark Ace...he blew up...didn't he?" asked Junko. That's what Aerrow and Piper had said. But what if they hadn't been Aerrow and Piper then? But it had to have been. Or else what had happened to the real Aerrow and Piper? It made his head hurt.

"Hey I'm as clueless as you are," said Finn. "But…it sort of makes sense. I mean Cyclonis and him did the binding."

"But he knew everything Aerrow knew," said Stork. "And the blocking crystal didn't work either. And what about that red blast thing he did and lifting the couch? That was certainly most…_unnatural."_

"Hey, I said I didn't know," replied Finn holding up his hands like he was being attacked.

"But we do know."

They looked over Junko, who had an strange expression on his face.

"Huh?" said Finn.

"We know," Junko repeated, his face blankly serious. "But _no one else does. We're _the only ones who know that he's an impostor."

Finn's jaw dropped. Stork blinked.

"So he could be running around…." Finn whispered.

"Doing whatever he wants…" finished Stork grimly.

"Quick!" Finn shouted pulling out of shock. He pointed at the melted dials of the Condor's controls. "Fix that radio!"

*-*-*

The Head Councilor stepped forward holding out reverently a long object wrapped in a blanket-like cloth. He stood before the teenager who looked at him with curiosity.

"Some of our men found it in the remains of Cyclonia. We had it repaired. It belonged to Lightening Strike," he said then his eyes were downcast. "before he was betrayed. We figured now, since you are the last descendant, that it should go to you."

And carefully he unwrapped the blanket and let it fall to the floor, revealing a long, double-blade energy sword, gleaming with repair.

The red-head smiled. He reached out and gently lifted the weapon from the Councilor's hands. He could not contain his manic grin. He held it up with one hand and ran his fingers down the edge of one of the blades with the other.

Starling stood back, watching the scene with approval. It seemed like a right of passage, receiving the weapon. It was both of his enemy and of his predecessor, not to mention, family. Suddenly, her radio on her hip buzzed with static, mumbled words jumping out.

*

"C'mon," chanted Stork. All three of the Storm Hawks were gathered around the makeshift radio they had slung together. Odd bits of metal stuck out, a rubber duck in one place, some rubber bands and paper clips. Stork was clutching a wrench, a welding mask sitting idly on his head. "_Work." _he demanded.

*

Starling picked up the radio and looked at it. "Hello?" she said in an accented voice. The signal was so weak and only static replied.

'Aerrow', over with the Councillor members, was smiling. "Thank you." he said to them. "It's…_nice_..to hold it." He restricted from adding the word 'again' . Then, reaching onto his back he pulled out one of the blue striker crystals from his daggers and then put it into the crystal conductor at the end of the sword. The blades erupted into a soft blue glow, electricity dancing along it's edges.

_Oh Strike_, he thought grinning, _if you could see me now._

*

"Hold it higher!" shouted Stork.

"I can't get any higher," Junko argued standing on precariously placed pieces of junk, nearly touching the ceiling. Finn was standing on the junk pile too, next to the wallop tuning the dials on the radio. They were attempting to get a signal.

"Lean a bit to the left," he said.

The tower tilted right. "No your other left!"

The tower tilted again.

*

"Hello?" Starling asked again.

".._left! -_sshhhs_- No too fa-_ shhstch_- hello?- _shtick_-..this is- _shshtch-"

Starling scrunched up her face perplexed.

'Aerrow' stood back and waved the sword around slowly, testing it out. He counted the bodies in the room. The only one who'd be any trouble would be the Skyknight Starling, but if he went after her first, she'd be taken by surprise.

Suddenly the radio burst into noise, Finn's voice yelling through, and everyone turned in it's direction.

"_THIS IS THE STORM HAWKS!_ -shch- _DO NOT TRUST AERROW_-shshct-_ AN IMPOSTOR! I RE_P- shct- _AN IMPOSTOR_!_ DO NOT TRUST_- schh"

And all heads swiveled to the red-haired boy.


	21. Modern Art

**A/N: I hate transitional chapters...this one feels icky. Yeah, and don't even attempt to translate any of the Adamanttian here - I made up half of it xD**

* * *

"All aboard the Roofus Express!" Cassiter exclaimed (still speaking Adamanttian) showcasing his Sky Demon, who was itching its ear with its back leg in a very non-impressive sort of way.

They looked at the pair with apprehension. Carnelian turned to glare at Qin.

"_No."_ she stated.

"Now, now Carnelian, Cassiter is one of our best pilots and Roofus is a good flyer, albeit a bit…umm...distracted…but you'll be plenty safe with them."

"But Grandfather-"

Qin waved his hand dismissively. Carnelian fumed but said no more.

The travelers approached the Sky Demon, and Cassiter stood by, smiling and holding out his hand to help them up. Carnelian ignored him and passed by still frowning. Radarr crawled over to the Krystallion and curiously sniffed his boots. Cassiter looked down at him and made some chittering noises in his throat. Radarr smiled suddenly understanding the greeting and the two shook hands.

Piper walked over next.

"Novusa," she greeted in Adamanttian. "Je eg Piper. Nos aprrenis tyes heaides."

Cassiter's eyes widened at the sight of her. Then he smiled, graciously bowed, and took her hand.

"Je sius lysannor serva, singulariter unus amo vos, _venustus noctis flos."_

Piper looked slightly embarrassed, feeling flattered, and Cassiter kissed her hand. Carnelian rolled her eyes and Aerrow stared blankly, mouth slightly open, at the scene wishing he could translate (or not translate) more than the words "I, honoured," and the last bit about a "lovely, night flower".

Still embarrassed and hot in the face Piper passed Cassiter and mounted the Sky Demon.

They all looked over at Aerrow who hadn't moved from where he was floating.

"That's okay," he said a faint smile playing on his lips. "I'm good."

Then he shot up into the sky and flew around till he was at level with the Sky Demon's head.

Cassiter stared for a moment then wiped his hair out from his eyes and grinned.

"Kesay." ('Cool.') He said approvingly.

Cassiter then scuttled on, easily passing Carnelian and Piper on to the neck of Roofus, and then, in a need to show off a bit, scaled further up, till he was grappling the horns on the Sky Demon's helmet. He whispered something in the creature's ear and it nodded zealously.

"Okapitim." said Cassiter, and Roofus shook his head up and down again, nearly shaking Cassiter loose. Then he clicked his heels against the sides of Roofus' neck and let out a yell in Adamanttia. Roofus bayed too, a great roar, leaping up suddenly and diving off the balcony at high speed. Carnelian screamed, and Piper yelled in surprise, and the two tightly held on to the saddle to keep from falling off.

Then, midway down the length of the tower, Roofus opened his wings. They caught the air. They flapped. The Sky beast arched upward and put from the dive, in a graceful turn.

Aerrow watched from the balcony, kind of wishing he'd still had his body so that he could have been on that dive. He smiled anyways and told himself that when he got his body back he'd try Sky Beast flying later.

"Wait up for me!" he called and then, leapt off the balcony as well, zooming forward after the Sky Beast, following the sight of it, and the screams of Carnelian shouting in Adamanttian that she was going to kill Cassiter.

* * *

Elsewhere…

"..THIS IS THE STORM HAWKS! -shch- DO NOT TRUST AERROW-shshct- AN IMPOSTER! I REP- shct- AN IMPOSTER- DO NOT TRUST- schh"

All heads turned to the red-head. Triumphant smirk morphed into a scowl.

So much for surprise.

The Dark Ace acted fast. He kicked the nearest councilor sending him sprawling but within a second the Messa Skyknight was careening out of the air, twirling her nun-chucks, glowing violet. Their weapons clashed together, bathing the room in blue and purple light.

"Who are you?" demanded Starling.

He ignored the question. He thrust her back and blasted her.

Miles way in the Wastelands the Storm Hawks listened to the fight transmitted through the radio waves.

Junko was standing on one foot, holding out the radio with his hand, while Finn, teetering beside, was holding onto the wallop's arm to keep near the wonky radio and not fall off the junk pile. They looked like modern art.

"Hey, who's winning?" Finn shouted out to the mesh.

Another burst of light exploded in the Council hall. The members ducked behind the podium. The fight was waning. Starling was losing. Normally she and Aerrow, as well as the Dark Ace for that matter, were evenly matched. But this was not normally.

Starling could see where this this was going. Time to end it quick.

She flipped backward on one hand to gain some space between them, and to build up the energy. Her special move- she hadn't quite figured out a name for it- was building. She flipped again into the air, launching herself in the direction of the impostor twirling her nun-chucks.

His blade met it head on. It held, no problem. Starling landed some feet back. Second time maybe-

"Argh!" The impostor shouted, jumping and twirling into the air, building up his own signature move. At first he glowed blue- but the aura turned violently red suddenly, drawing from a source other than the sword. It looked…familiar somehow.

Starling's eye widened. The scene flashed back to a memory. She recognized the move. That was the Dark-

The blast erupted, and not in just her direction. The flood of energy hit her and throw her back till she slammed against a wall. Her nun-chucks were designed to withstand most other Skyknight's moves but _this?_ This was out of her league.

The world went red

Then…

Black.

Static hissed though the radio.

"Oh that can't be good." said Stork, sounding genuinely worried.

"Grr, c'mon ya stupid thing." Finn growled turning at the dials of the machine. He whacked on the side a couple times. A long _shhhhhhhhhhhtchhhhh_ was all that replied. Minutes passed.

"You don't think…?" asked Junko. He didn't finish the question. They looked between each other. You don't she's…

"_Schshhhhhhh-_hello?-_shhhhctt-"_

They turned to the radio.

"Shhchcttt-Storm Hawks?" Wobbly, weak, but a distinctly accented voice called.

"Starling?" Finn said into the mesh. "What happened?"

"Schhh- He got away. " she replied sounding hollow. "I'm sorry but-schhttt- that energy-schhhh-"

Starling leaned into the side of one the Councillors helping her support her weight. Her whole body was covered in patches of ash and black, and she was sure that later she would be purple and blue with bruises. She was outside now, doctors were being sent and people were running all over the place. Another radio- hers had been destroyed inside, much like most of the interior of the Council hall- was held up to her ear.

"-Storm Hawks?"

"_Uh huh?" _Finns voice replied.

"The impostor- it's not who I think it is..is it?"

"_Well, ummm," _said Finn_. "That depends on who you think it is."_

Starling's eyes narrowed, looking off into the distance to the Aurora tower that was now dark.

Dark.

"The Dark Ace."

The other people listening in on the conversation gasped.

"_That's what we figured too." _Finn replied confirming the worst.

"How?" demanded Starling. "If that 'Aerrow' was really the Dark Ace then where's..?"

"_We don't know._ _The Farside maybe…with Piper, and Radarr."_

Starling could hear the worry, and the sadness behind the words. She knew what it was like to be missing your team.

"And where are you?" she asked.

"_Ummm…Stork?"_

"_Purgatory," _muttered the voice of the merb faintly through radio_. _There was the sound of some scuffling and a hit.

"_Errr...no idea." _The sharpshooter said finally.

"Alright then," Starling replied. "We'll track your signal and then send you help. It might take a bit."

"_Uh…" _Finn replied unsurely. "Okay…"

Junko wavered for a second and the whole tower of stuff shook dangerously. Finn tried desperately not to fall over.

"Yeah, sure. Not prob. But uh..be quick. Please."

He was pretty sure he couldn't last very long standing like this.

Stork was staring off through the cracked wind shield. Hot, rancid Wasteland air was blowing through it. Like sulphur. Probably the lava. Or maybe it was the ship. He'd been eyeing a particular spiny column of rock in the distance for a time now.

"That rock…" he mused, scratching his chin. "It seems odd. In fact the more I stare at it, the more these Wastelands seems so very…_familiar."_

"They all look the same to me." Finn muttered, not that could see them, wishing Starling would hurry up and get back to them. His muscles were aching from hanging in his position for so long.

"Finn?" asked Junko bashfully. There was a look or urgency on his face. "I need to use the bathroom."

"Just hold it!" Finn countered. "We can't move."

"Oh yesss," Stork half- growled. "Familiar…" His eyes narrowed. Spiny. The smell of sulphur. That crag, those ditches…

"_Starling calling the Storm Hawks. Do you still read?" _

"Finally," Finn breathed. "Storm Hawks here."

"_We have tracked your location-"_

Stork gasped suddenly. "Eek!" he cried leaping from the pane. "Oh no. _No." _he rasped.

"_The terra closest to you now is-"_

Stork's voice overlapped with Starling's.

"_Terra Merb."_

And with that, Stork fainted.

* * *

The wind was cold and wet. Piper couldn't decide whether or not she liked Sky Beast flying. For one thing she didn't have to focus on driving. She was free to search the landscape with curiosity as much a she liked. On the other hand, there wasn't much to see right now. There were a lot of clouds. A dense cold fog lay below them. The tops of hills and spires of rocks stuck out of the mist like islands in a stream.

"Bad weather," Carnelian grumbled behind her.

"Everybody hold on," Cassiter said in Adamanttian. "Were going up."

"What'd he say?" asked Aerrow lazily floating beside Piper.

"He said were going up," explained Piper.

"Why?" asked Aerrow.

Piper shouted up the Cassiter asking in Adamanttian. Cassiter replied, sounding a bit devilish.

"He says were taking a shortcut over something called Filum Arachin. Or Spider's Thread."

"What's that?" Aerrow asked.

"No!" yelled Carnelian. "Rien! Nila! Spider's Thread is a line of Leech Crystals, it connects two of the greater Fields." then she started yelling Adamanttian at Cassiter, to turn around and take the Acani Pass.

"Hey, relax. It's safe. I've done this like a million times. It'll save a whole day of travel." Cassiter replied in Adamanttian.

"But I thought flying over the Leech Crystals-" started Piper also speaking Adamanttian.

"We'll be fine as long as we stay up high enough." Cassiter assured and gave a cocky smile.

"What are we doing?" Aerrow asked feeling more oblivious.

Piper inhaled, feeling nervous. "Were flying over a thin bit of the Fields of Death."

Cassiter shouted into Roofus ear. The Sky beast clicked and let out a low hum like a whale, before gently curving up higher, flapping it's wings to propel itself. The group disappeared up into a cloud layer that thoroughly soaked them.

They broke into the next clear layer. Carnelian was wet and irritated. She muttered some deaths threats in Adamanttian and grabbed her hair with both hands and wrung it till water dripped out. Piper shook her head scattering water droplets, while Cassiter's hair hung damping front of his eyes.

"Should be going over right about now." he said. Aerrow and Piper looked at each other then down, but only the clouds could be seen.

Then, a soft pulse ran through them, the same way a low bass note is not heard but felt.

Roofus bayed.

"Ohh," Cassiter shivered. "Maybe we should go _a bit higher_." He clicked his heels ad told Roofus to fly up a bit more.

Carnelian was quivering. Even Radarr whined.

"I don't feel anything," said Piper looking at her comrades.

"It's like this big tired feeling…" Aerrow said. Piper looked at him. He was horizontal and facing down, flying with ease. His half-translucent face looked troubled. "Like your energy is waning."

"You can feel it?" asked Piper.

"Aerrow is made of energy right now." Carnelian explained from behind and they looked at her. "His spirit," she went on speaking in Atmosian. "Is strong here because of all the free-floating energy that comes from the plentiful crystals we have. Your world, I understand, does not have this energy."

Aerrow turned back to gazing at the unseen ground. "It's still not like this." he said.

The group moved higher and continued flying.

Distance passed.

Then after what must have been a half an hour after they had passed over the Spider's Thread (Piper judged this by how everyone else's shoulders relaxed) Cassiter started exclaiming in Adamanttian that they had arrived, and Roofus dived down into the clouds.

They flew down low, then glided close along the ground. The mist was thick down here too. Pointed rocks seemed to rise on each side, walling in a path. They became narrower and narrower till Roofus had to land.

The passengers descended.

"The crystal is this way," Carnelian said and she lead the way.

Piper could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickling and Radarr moaned quietly on her shoulder. She scratched his head reassuringly. The mist poured from the rocks on either side, flooding onto the path and licking at their legs. It seemed to curl and dance as though it were alive.

There was a soft glow up a head, shielded by the fog. The wind shifted and the curtain pulled away.

The Storm Hawks gasped.

The path opened up to a circular clearing surrounding by more tall rocks. In the center of the clearing was the Anti-Seer crystal.

It was _huge._

It sat on a natural pedestal of stone. The base was about the size of the average dining room table. The tallest point jutted straight up about 12 feet. Shards jutted off and up from it. It was purple. It resembled a giant radish somehow. Light moved on the inside of it, a plasma sitting in the core of the crystal.

"Oh wow," Piper said excitedly, clasping her hands.

"Er," said Aerrow unsurely. "Wow. How does it work?"

Piper moved toward the crystal.

"According to what I read, you just have to touch the crystal and think or say what you want to see."

"It's that easy?"

Piper, Aerrow, and Radar placed one hand on the crystal. It was smooth and strangely warm. The plasma inside recoiled as though tit felt the touch.

"So then we just have to say something?" asked Aerrow. "Like 'Storm Hawks'?"

"No," said Piper. "You have to be speci-"

The crystal activated.

There was a burst of light and the motion of being thrown forward. They yelled being caught off guard.

Carnelian and Cassiter shielded their eyes from the blinding light, and when it had faded out, Aerrow, Piper and Radarr were frozen where they stood, enclosed in a purple-pink aura.

"So, ummm, what do we do now?" Cassiter asked in Adamanttian.

"Wait." Carnelian answered. "We have to watch over them to make sure nothing happens to them."

And they looked at the three still, and glowing Storm Hawks. Their eyes were opened and glowing violet, seeing a different place.

And another time.

_The Storm Hawks._


	22. A Walk Down Memory Lane

**A/N: Hey sorry to keep you guys waiting. I really appreciate all the reviews. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how fast uploads may be in the next little while because I'm gonna be rather busy.**

_People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect... but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff._

_ - Doctor Who, "Blink"._

**_

* * *

Chapter 22: A Walk Down Memory Lane  
_**

Stork was hyperventilating.

"Dude would you calm down, what's the big deal anyways?"

Stork, Finn and Junko were sitting in some free space in a small ship, wrapped in blankets, supposedly to prevent hypothermia, although, no one was cold. The ship itself was very tiny. There was only the driver's seat and the subsequent space And it smelt. Of what, no one would ask. Starling's message had gotten through and Terra Merb had sent over the tiny, rickety rescue ship. The Condor was being towed by a larger carrier ship.

"The _big deal _is that I haven't been to Terra Merb in _years!" _screeched Stork at Finn.

"Cmon Stork, don't exaggerate." Finn replied a bit irritated by him. He was one of the few Storm Hawks who still had a home terra and yet he never went to go see it. Well, Finn admitted to himself, Junko didn't too, but he knew his reasons.

"I'm _not_ exaggerating," hissed Stork back, then he looked towards the driver's seat and asked curiously, "Are there still Leech Swarms?"

Only the faintly green chin of the pilot could been seen as he answered.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, got two last week."

The whole ship jumped, hitting an air pocket.

"Ummm," said Junko nervously, "What are Leech Swarms?"

* * *

Time, people say, is an illusion. But no one has ever explained _why _it is one. Or at least, it is not common knowledge. But time, to Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr was very real. It moved all around them. Every moment, event, minute and second, and instance flung by them hurtling and appearing. Colours and lights blurred, rushing into and past their minds.

Then the images began to slow slightly, flickering still. There was the feeling of stopping very suddenly and another flash of light.

They were in a large hanger of some sort. The wide doors were open. A construction project was in progress, some malformed hunk of metal in the center of the room. Metal bars were being hauled up , people were shouting, and there was the continuous sound of hammering and drilling.

Piper and Aerrow looked at themselves. Aerrow still looked the same- a faintly blue glowing outline. But now Piper and Radarr also appeared as glowing outlines.

"Hey we match," said Aerrow.

Piper held up her hand, looking through it's orange shape. "We don't exist during this time," she said. "Were just observers."

As though to prove her, a workmen walked right on top of, and then through, Radarr who squeaked in fear. Then he opened his eyes, one by one, realizing he was undamaged.

"C'mon , put your backs into it!" a sharp female cry rang out.

They looked to their left to see a woman standing next to three other men. They were all wearing armour. She was shorter than all of them, but still tall. Strong looking ,but willowy, and skinny. And she was also in charge by the looks of it.

All Piper, Aerrow, and Radarr did was look at the group and they found themselves surprisingly closer to them, the scene shifting to fit their needs.

"It looks nothing like the design," remarked a young man next to the woman. He had light brown hair and green eyes.

"Oh relax," the woman nudge him in the ribs with her elbow. "It will. I'm more worried about a name."

A taller, broader fellow behind the woman spoke next. "I like the Nimbus Cloud. Good name for a ship. Fits the team name, and pays it respects to it's roots."

The woman pursed her lips, and brushed back a loose strand and vibrantly red hair.

"Cloud? I dunno." she shook her head "It don't fit."

"This is crazy," the green eyed man said again. "This is nutters. You've really outdone yourself this time Aerie. Flying a ship all over the Atmos - landing on strange terras. Protecting the skies. We'll be dead by mid afternoon after take off."

The was a sound of metal groaning and a large chunk of the ship fell off clanging onto the ground, leaving a trail of silence behind it.

The grren eyed man rested his face in his hand. "If we even _get _that far."

At this point the red head turned on him and they started arguing and not before long, the other two had joined in. Piper took their incomprehensible blabble as an invitation to talk to Aerrow.

"Aerrow-" she said sounding excited. "Do you know what this is?"

Aerrow glanced at the arguing people.

"A… dysfunctional squadron?" he guessed.

"Not just any squadron," hissed Piper. "Were looking at the very first Storm Hawks. And that must be the Condor." She pointed to the less then half finished ship in the docks. Another chunk of metal fell off.

"Really?" said Aerrow, with a bit more respect to his voice. He looked over to the group who had stopped arguing.

"If you think it's such a bad idea then why not just back out, hmm?" the red head Aerie challenged.

"You won't get rid of me that easy," the young man huffed.

"Alright the two of you," said the taller one forcing them apart. "Last thing we need is the Skyknight and the first officer fighting. Save that for the pirates and Cyclonians."

"I'm still not sure I'm believe all that about the Cyclonians." said the one other figure who hadn't spoken, arms crossed. "You really think they've started colonizing again?"

"You heard the reports," snapped Aerie. "Defenceless terras. And that's exactly why we have to go out there. Someone needs to protect these terras, train squadrons of their own. And that'll be us."

"In that tiny tin can." remarked the brunette earning himself a swift punch to the arm from their leader.

"Wow," said Aerrow, watching the seen. "This is amazing, but..." he turned to Piper. "They're not the Storm Hawks were looking for. How do we found out about the others?"

"Just think it," explained Piper and she grabbed his hand in hopes they would accidentally separate. Radarr gripped onto Aerrow's leg pleased to find he was solid to him.

Piper closed her eyes in concentration.

"The last Storm Hawks," she said aloud. "Show us the last Storm Hawks…"

The hanger disappeared. Time moved again. Images fast forwarded past them at a startling speed. Then, they stopped.

They were standing on the bridge of the Condor. It was very still. The windows outside showed that it was dark.

"Did we get it right?" asked Aerrow. One of the doors hissed opened behind them and they turned.

"I was _not_ done speaking to you-"

"Yeah, well _I am." _

Aerrow's jaw dropped and Piper gasped.

The two figures entered the room and then squared off against each other. One was broad shouldered, wearing a blue and black uniform, odd metal shielding at the sides of his face, and had red hair piled upwards on his head.

The other, to Aerrow's surprise, looked no older, (_possibly younger?) _than himself. His hair was green and short, and he wore a similar uniform but with no armour. Despite that he was much lankier, he did not seem to be in the least intimidated by the man before him. He turned away with a sneer.

"That's.." said Aerrow breathlessly. "They're…"

The disgruntled teenager marched away from his Skyknight toward the front of the bridge to stare out the windshield into the dark night. Lightening Strike followed him a few steps behind.

"What you did out there today- it was completely reckless." He went on, looking frustrated. " How many times have I told you_- that's not what Skyknights do_. That isn't how we fight. You crossed the line, Ace."

The boy whirled around at him. "Well maybe it's time somebody did! What _I _did- you think those Cyclonians would have hesitated to do the same thing? No! When were out there, it's us or them. You do what you have to do. It is a war, Strike! I'm not about to take it lying down."

Strike had not retreated at all under Ace's onslaught.

"The _way we fight _is what _separates_ us from the Cyclonians." He said. "We can't sink to their level."

Ace growled at him. Aerrow could see the similarities. The same angry face was often glaring him down.

"No wonder they're winning then." The teen spat. "They have the guts to do what you're too afraid to. Do you know how many times I've seen that guy? If we don't get rid of them they just keep coming back. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of saving the enemy." He turned away again, taking a few steps.

The Skyknight looked very tired, and sad. "Ace," he started quietly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he cut him off, waving his hand but not looking around. "You're soo disappointed." He huffed and tightened his fists. "Look, I'm sorry alright. Sorry I abandoned my post. I'm a failure. Happy now? Next time, I'll let him finish me off instead."

"_Ace," _Strike said more assertively grabbing the teen by the shoulder and forcing him to face him.

Aerrow was sure that, if still had his body, he would have thrown up. The Dark Ace- no, not 'Dark', not quite yet - looked angry, but also like he might just…

Cry.

"If it ever does come down to that," said Strike emphatically, "You do whatever you have to to survive. But when we do have the upper hand, let them go. Don't go off fighting people okay? Your job is co-pilot. Stick close to me. Don't get involved in fights. I need to be able to depend on you. And Storm Hawks _never _cut chutes. Do you understand?"

The teen looked down and shrugged off Strike's hands.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Strike sighed wearily.

"We'll talk about this later." he patted Ace on the shoulder. "Get some sleep, 'kay kid?" He walked over back to the door, passing by Piper. He glanced back at his co-pilot, before turning away and exiting.

The room was quiet.

Then, "Hhrgh!" _**Clang! **_Ace kicked the metal framework of the ship. The observers jumped, slightly startled.

Ace put his hands up to the glass and then rested his forehead against it. His shoulders slumped and he breathed out heavily. Then, slowly, he walked back over to the table and flopped down on the couch, resting his head in his hands.

Piper looked worriedly at Aerrow who was stony faced. She felt his hand encircle hers.

"We need to find the others," he said blankly, not looking at her. "The _current _Storm Hawks this time. Imagine them."

"Alright," said Piper, hoping Aerrow was okay. Radarr whined. Piper shut her eyes again in concentration, thinking of the others, specifying the most recent events, but Aerrow

was still looking at the teenager sitting on the couch. What was he thinking? How far along were things in the war now? How long from this moment was his betrayal? Aerrow wasn't sure he wanted to know. It didn't matter. The past could not be changed. Aerrow knew how things ended. It didn't really matter what happened along the way. The past cannot be changed.

The scene dissolved, and once again there was the feeling of moving forward and staying still while everything around them changed.

Piper thought hard, focusing on her friends faces. _Yesterday, _she thought. _Where were they yesterday? Finn, Junko, Stork the Condor._

Another flashed. They found themselves floating in a red-orange sky, the brimstone smell of the Wastelands wafting upwards. But apart from themselves and the clouds they saw nothing else.

"What?" said Aerrow looking side to side across the empty sky. "Why are we h-"

A massive gray shape fell from above, a few feet in front of them making them reel in surprise. It groaned as it passed, like a dying animal. It was the Condor. Burning and dive-bombing.

"No!" Aerrow and Piper screamed in unity. Radarr screeched, hopelessly reaching out with a paw. Their worst fears seemed to have been realized.

They blinked and they skipped a couple minutes. This time they were own the ground, wreckage strewn all around. Aerrow and Piper searched desperately. Only smoke moved.

"No," Piper said again on the verge of tears. Where were they? They had to be alive!

There was a yelling noise from above, and the three looked up to see a mass of things on a parachute tumbling through the air and then on the ground. The oddly shaped mass split into three separate people tangled in a web of strings and fabric.

It was them.

"They made it!" Piper's hand clasped together and a smile spread over her face in joy.

"Yes! Haha." Said Aerrow at the same time curing his fist in triumph. Radarr tried to run forward and hug Stork but he slipped through him and feel on the ground.

The scene changed abruptly again, this time to a dark room somewhere. Junko and Finn were each sleeping on their own bed. Finn was spread out ridiculously and drooling on the pillows, while Junko, who barely fit on his cot, was curled up tightly. The third bed was empty. Stork was sitting by an open window gazing out into a city of sorts. The moon glowed and the whole sky seemed tinted green with fog. Neither Piper nor Aerrow could recognize the terra. A tiny radio blared very quietly on the table by him.

"_- Swarm Leeches have not yet been found. And a forecast of heavy storms is due sometime soon. Make sure ya bunker down because it's about to get rough. Meteorologists are predicting heavy damages. If there's a time to see your friends and family, it's now folks. Things _will_ get difficult-"_

Stork turned the knob on the radio, clicking it off. He sighed.

"Oh doom," he mumbled.

The image faded to black, leaving Aerrow, Piper and Radarr floating in an apparent ink blot.

Piper turned to Aerrow ecstatic. "They're alive," she said. "And safe now- er, _then."_

Aerrow nodded. It felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from him. "Right. Guess we can get back to Carnelian and the others."

Piper grabbed his arm. "Wait," she said. "This crystal can show us _anything_ from the past. We can't leave now."

"What did you want to see?" Aerrow asked a bit confused.

"Well," she said. "What about Cyclonis? And the Dark Ace? We can see what they've been doing to." Another idea dawned on her and she gasped. "We can see what happened to the Doorway, when it first disappeared. We thought we might find answers here."

"Heeey," said Aerrow, "Not a bad idea. But where- uh, _when_, do we look?"

"Not sure," said Piper. Then she faced out ceremoniously into the dark. "The Doorway." she said speaking clearly, trying to convey her wishes to the crystal. "The Doorway between Atmos and the Far- uh, between Atmos and Terra. Show us how it first disappeared. How it become lost. Ummmm…." there was a pause as Piper didn't know what to say next. _"Please?"_

A second passed before anything happened. And then, like before there was a burst of light, and feeling of being thrown forward, but backwards in time.


	23. Future in the Past

**A/N: Hey! Big thanks to all you guys who have been reviewing! Finally summer is here and that means posts should become a bit more regular (no promises though :p). **

**To: underwaterwriter: Yes, you're right. I'm surprised no one mentioned the 'it's vs its' thing first earlier lol. I always get messed up with regular possessive because I think with names and nouns " 's " can be both a contraction and possessive (?). I'll try to watch that.  
**

**To: Everyone else: You guys are awesome. Way too kind. Especially you Aazagthoth. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

Everything hit them at once, like running into a wall.

First there was the humidity. Then, the smell of soil, wet earth. There were the smells of flowers, cooking, and various spices, mixed with the scent of fresh air.

There were people. It was a city. The dirt road they were standing on was lined with short white stone buildings, packed together. Thick green vines scaled over the homes and stores, almost devouring some whole. Along the street, wares were open, and items were being battered for. It was rich and alive.

"When...and where are we?" asked Aerrow slightly breathless.

Piper barely heard the question. She was in awe of the scene, already eagerly trying to decipher the location.

She looked at the people and was surprised to see that the majority were dark skinned like herself. Their clothes were simple tunics, of varying colours. Many wore crystal necklaces or bracelets. Though there were many traits of a tribal society, there was also a large amount of advanced looking technology. Parked in a small alley between two buildings, a crude vehicle that resembled a skimmer sat. It was both metal, and wood, painted colourfully.

"This is incredible," murmured Piper.

Radarr chirped in agreement by her feet.

The sudden blowing of a trumpet directed everyone's attention down the street where a sort of procession was happening. A moderately large group of people was approaching. Many had spears, mostly of wood, but some of metal, tipped with crystals of varying colours. Many of them were also wearing large tribal masks, though some of the more relaxed members had slipped their masks to rest on the tops of their heads. Near the center front of the procession was a more prominent figure, his mask strung on his back. The others seemed to give him more space and his staff and clothes were more decorated. As the group passed, Piper and Aerrow noticed the bystanders bowing at the waist. The man looked around, and though he could not have really him seen him, looked right at Aerrow for a second.

"Who do you think he is? What does any of this have to do with the Doorway?" Aerrow whispered to Piper, still glaring at the man. Something about his face had thrown him. Maybe it was the dark blue hair, but then, he was not the only native whose hair was midnight. He discreetly eyed his navigator's features comparing and contrasting.

Piper glanced down the other direction of the street where the procession was heading. In the distance a temple rose up.

"Aerrow, look at the buildings," said Piper. "This..this looks like the same type of architecture we found in the Forbidden city. Actually, I think this might be Terra Xoam. Hundreds of years ago."

Aerrow did a 180. "I think you're right," he said. "But this is all above ground, so it can't be the Forbidden City.._can it?" _he looked at Piper for an answer.

"It's not quite the same as the Forbidden City," said Piper. "But it's similar. And the ruins were where the Key was…"

Aerrow narrowed his eyes and looked back at the temple where the procession seemed to be heading. "Think we should follow?"

Piper looked at him and nodded.

Time zipped again, and they were inside a large hall. Warriors, with large wooden shields of painted tribal faces lined the walls, and between them, crystal torches burned bright yellow light that made it seem more like day inside. A tall stone dias rose up at the end of the hall. At the top was a wooden throne, decorated with carvings and crystals. An old women sat there. She wore a long flowing white dress, and her white hair stood up from her head. Her dark skinned was wrinkled with smile lines. A lovely, but not ostentatious, crown sat on her head.

"Hail Queen Oriole!" Shouted the warriors lining the hall. They pounded their staffs against the ground in sync.

The procession seen from earlier had entered. They bowed and hailed the queen. There was silence.

The Queen's eyes scanned the lot of kneeling soldiers. "Where are they?" She asked.

"Right here your majesty," replied a well-built man, the one from before, walking forward down the aisle so he was isolated. He kneeled again on one knee with a hand over his heart. "I am glad to be in your presence once more."

"Come now Heron," the old woman said disapprovingly, "Rise now, and give me a proper greeting."

With his head held high in royal dignity, the man ascended the stairs till he reached to top platform and stood in front of the queen. The empress rose from her throne slowly, and then, the two embraced each other in a hug.

"Welcome home my son.", the women said tenderly. Then they pulled apart holding each other at arm's length. Her light lavender eyes then darted too and fro and her expression became worried. "You must tell everything that has happened. You've been traveling far too long- and where?-Where is your brother?" She tried to look over her son's shoulder to see if anyone still waited below the platform. But no one stood out. She gasped suddenly recoiling her arms. "Do not tell me you bring ill news. What has happened-what-"

"Calm down Mother," her son pleaded placing his hands on her small shoulders. "Nothing horrible had befallen him. Well," he amended chuckling. "I suppose some may consider marriage a form of torture but-"

Her eyes widened in horror. "Marriage? My son is married?" Her voice was appalled.

Heron laughed again. "Engaged for now, Mother. He would not dream of leaving you out of the festivities."

The Queen sighed with relief and her face broke into a smile, then a frown again.

"Where is he then?" she asked. "Why has he not come to tell me the news himself? When am I to meet his bride?"

"All in good time Mother," Heron assured. "He remains currently on the terra with his Guard. His fiancée is princess of the terra. The people have taken quite a liking to him and he_ is _quite smitten by her. Our travels have gone well and I-"

The sound of a trumpet blowing made them turn to the entrance. Another procession had entered. Like Heron's group, there were many tribal warriors present, but among them was another group of people. They were Caucasian and wore long sleeved tunics and pants, all of darker colour. Hoods were pulled up onto their heads.

From them, another figure walked forward, dignified and graceful. She was clearly though, a member of the tribal people. Her long dark blue hair was tied back except for some dangling strands that hung down loosely. A crystal staff hung on her back. She kneeled before the steps a triumphant smile on her face. She rose. "Greetings Mother. Heron." she said to the two on the pedestal. "I bring excellent news."

"And…guests," said the Queen, who had the appearance of someone surprised but trying to be polite, gesturing to the dark clothed figures.

"Honoured followers," The woman corrected holding out her hands as if showcasing the hooded people. "Their terra has pledged their subservience to us."

Heron and the Queen looked at each other then at group curiously. "Subservience?" asked Heron.

The hooded figures stepped forward and kneeled on the ground. One of them spoke.

"Our only desire is to serve you in anyway."

The Queen waved her hand dismissively. "That is greatly appreciated but unnecessary. We do not ask for your obedience; only allegiance."

"We insist." said the hooded man. "Our terra has long looked to a strong leader to guide us."

The woman below smiled. "They have even gone so far as to renaming the terra after our family name." she gushed.

The Queen looked slightly uncomfortable but she tried to smile. "That is…wonderful. Truly Sagehen. I am glad you have returned home."

The daughter half bowed at the waist.

The scene blurred and began to change.

"What do you think-" began Aerrow but Piper shushed him as the new scene focused. It was the Queen and Heron again. They were in the throne room again, but this time it was empty.

"I am glad you here Heron," she whispered, though their voices seemed magnified to Aerrow, Piper, and Radarr. "I should think it wise if you remained home for some time. I need you here."

"But Mother," he argued. "There are still so many terras out there we have yet to explore. To every terra we have allied prosperity had followed. The Krystallion technology has kick-started life into every-"

"Yes, yes," she rolling her eyes. Then she sighed.

"Is something the matter?" he asked concernedly.

She looked up at him from her seat. Her eyes were sad. "The Oracle has warned me of some troubling times ahead. She says she sees a brewing storm."

Heron laughed, and it echoed off the stone walls. "Mother," he said recovering, "W_e_ are the _storm_. Xoam is by far one of the most powerful terras now. The Atmosian Alliance is strong and everyday more terras join it."

Oriole nodded sadly. "Yes, but… Pythia is never wrong in her predictions. And I fear…I fear your sister has gotten too…zealous in explorations. The rumours are unkind."

Heron's smiling face quickly dropped and the two royals stopped in the hall. "Yes," he said thickly frowning. "I have seen for myself. I have been meaning to talk to you about her for a while."

Oriole nodded again. "And with your brother away, I have come to the decision, that you shall take the throne after my passing."

Heron looked at her shock. "Me? But I am not the eldest. It is Sagehen's rightful-"

The elderly woman held up her hand. "No. I have decided. You will be best for Xoam and the empire." Heron looked nervous, then determined. Before he could reply the image began to melt again. Blurring once more as time shifted around them.

"Piper, I'm confused," said Aerrow refusing to be hushed again. "What does this have to do with the Door?"

"They must have it." she replied, and he could see she was calculating. "They mentioned the Krystallions so they must be communicating with them through the Door. Or maybe-"

She was interrupted by the sound of screaming. The image focused. The screaming ceased.

"Now I will ask only once more Pythia.", a harsh voice demanded. "Will you serve me or not? I _demand_ you to tell me the future!"

A wiry woman lay not far from Aerrow and Piper's feet. They gasped at the sight of her. Her light skin was covered in ash and her dress burnt. Her long hair was all out place. But she looked defiant.

"_Never." _she said.

Sagehen stood before her, surrounded by both hooded men and tribal warriors. They were in some sort of chamber.

"It's the Oracle," Aerrow hissed shocked. "From the Forbidden city, I'm sure of it."

"Look!" shouted Piper pointing to their right. He followed her hand. It was the Doorway. It was closed, but still radiating. It looked brighter and more magnificent than the one they had seen. Newer.

"You dare defy me. _Me?_ Rightful Queen of Xoam? Of the empire?" Sagehen said brandishing her crystal staff. Then she looked amused. "Fine. If you will not help me willingly, I shall have no choice but to force you."

Pythia, the Oracle, rose unsteadily. "You cannot." she said.

But Sagehen smiled, and leisurely walked forward. "You know Pythia, of my great skill with crystals yes? The Binding and so forth?"

The Oracle glowered.

"Well," continued Sagehen. "It can work more than one way. See, I can bind crystal energy to people, " she grinned wickedly, and Piper shuddered at the sight of her face. Her skin and hair made her only think of her own reflection. "But there is little difference between crystal energy and the energy of a person. Binding it to other objects…"

She pulled out from behind her back a large spherical, light violet crystal.

"The Key," gasped Pythia. "How did you -?"

But Sagehen did not wait. She shot a blast of energy at the Oracle, and she screamed again. Radarr covered his eyes and bent his ears shut hiding behind Aerrow's translucent legs. The other two Storm Hawks watched in horror. The light beaming from Sagehen's staff completely encircled the Oracle. The room filled with pale violet light. Sagehen seemed to be controlling the Oracle's body into a standing position. Her skin was greying, and the Storm Hawks realized, she was turning into stone.

And suddenly, another blast erupted and the crystal mage was flying across the room, the Key tumbling out of her hand.

It was Heron, his own staff in hand. Sagehen got up looking furious. "You!" she shouted, and without a moment's hesitation attacked her brother. He was ready though. Two rays of light collided. Her's blue and his green. They fought for dominance.

There was pure rage in the woman's eyes. "Mother made her last mistake, leaving you in charge!"

"The only one who has made any mistakes is you sister!" he shouted back.

Piper was first to spot the stealthy hooded figure behind Heron "Watch out!" she shouted reaching out with her hand, even though there was no way he could hear her. The hooded man grabbed Heron, wrapping one arm around his neck and with the other holding a lit blade to his throat.

Sagehen cackled, then turned her attention back to the Oracle groaning on the ground.

She looked at the Key across the room and held out her hand. It glowed and then flew to her. Piper and Aerrow shut their eyes, turning away as the next blast came at the Oracle.

She yelled again, and then, something else happened. The Oracle seemed to fight back the light. She looked at Sagehen trembling with both pain and anger.

_"You want a prophecy?_" she growled. _"Then here's what I foresee_!" her arms flew into the air and her wispy voice boomed filling up the chamber. The room seemed to shake.

**Wham!**

* * *

Piper and Radarr slammed into the ground. Aerrow looked around as to why they were now back in the clearing.

"Sorry!" screeched Carnelian trying to scramble off from Piper. She offered a hand to help her up. "But it's just that-oof!" Carnelian was knocked from behind back onto Piper by the flying form of Cassiter.

"Regretis." groaned Cassiter.

"What's going on?" asked Aerrow looking panicked.

Carnelian shoved Cassiter off of her and pointed in the direction of the path. "That!" she yelled. Two massive forms rolled out of the mist, tumbling off of the rocks and onto the path. One was Roofus. The other thing- well it was more than one thing. They looked liked spiders cross bred with cockroaches then juiced up on nuclear waste so that each was the size of two skimmers side by side. Three of them were attacking Roofus.

"What are those things?" Piper gasped sitting up.

"Skuggers." said Carnelian, offering a hand to Piper, helping her up.

"And they want...?" asked Aerrow.

"_Lunch." _Carnelian's voice jumped an octave.

Cassiter was standing at the head of the group now. He leaned down and from the side of his boot brought out a dagger, its blade made of smoky white crystal. He was looking angrily at the Skuggers attacking Roofus.

"Vos ackantus nisa!" he shouted and Cassiter charged.

Carnelian's eyes widened. "Cassiter! _No!" _


	24. Home Sweet

**I finally got a hold of the comp long enough to finish this up. My sis has been monopolizing it for days watching One Piece. Seriously. She couldn't pick a nice short anime like Death Note (thirty something eps)? Instead she opts for One Piece, which is like freaking 400 eps? Plus I'm a procrastinator to begin with. Plus I'll be on hiatus for a couple days from the comp...so I thought I could at least tie this up. I need to sleep :0 so I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes.  
**

* * *

Owlsley, Pydge, and Griffin would not leave Stork alone. Knowing that their 'beloved Sky Scout Master' was coming to Terra Merb they were all eager to be good guides. Stork tried to explain that it wasn't necessary and that the Merb Council was already helping take care of things, but they didn't seem to care. As they were walking along the street they continued to point things out, like the new TinHatco store, and the new tricks, animal calls, and gadgets they'd invented.

Finn and Junko were walking behind them taking in the sights of the new Terra. It _seemed _relatively normal at first. Somehow there was a lot less fire, seismic eruption, and panic than Stork had led them to believe. Finn did notice a lot of stores with signs proclaiming 'Emergency Bunker present'. Meanwhile speaker towers set up at intersections reminded citizens that "..in case of cyclones-" Junko and Finn froze inside for a moment thinking that they had said Cyclonians "-residents are to calmly move to the nearest underground facilities. Anything that is not tied down is likely to be lost. We'd also like to remind you that Terra Merb is not responsible for any damages obtained from trespassing on the minefields. Have a nice day."

"Is, umm, that normal?" asked Junko feeling a bit uneasy at hearing the warning.

"Uh huh," said Pydge, pushing up his glasses. "My dad told me bout this one time a tornado almost sucked him out the window."

Junko grimaced, but Pydge seemed rather proud of his story.

"Your hometown sure is…interesting, Stork." Finn said. Interesting being the best word he could think of.

The ground shook suddenly for a second. Not very strong, but defiantly noticeable.

"Umm," said Junko raising a finger. "Is _that normal too?"_

"Oh yeah," said Owsley. "We get those all the time. Not like there's anywhere to run anyways."

Junko and Finn exchanged nervous glance. Nobody else though around the terra seemed particularly worried at all.

The Condor was being held in a large warehouse. It was not the only ship there, in the huge open space, but it was the one drawing the most eyes.

Stork stopped in his tracks.

_It really has been a long time…_

Nostalgia washed over him, filling him up. The sounds of metal work, the heat, smell of oil, fumes that even the superb ventilation system couldn't completely erase. It could have been yesterday he was last there. Or maybe ten years, it felt so odd to be back.

A crew of merbs had already got to work on the Condor, drilling and hammering. Scaffolds were set up around the outside and there were probably more crew members on the inside. Already it was looking better. Which is good, thought Stork, though the sight of other people touching his ship sparked another bout of paranoia and unease. _My ship. Poor baby…but with this many people working on it…_

"She knows how to take a beating alright," said a gruff voice from behind. The Storm Hawks turned around to face who was the biggest merb they had seen since they had got there. He was not nearly as broad shouldered as Junko, but still buff by merb terms. Plus he was almost a half foot taller. And he had a _goatee. _He smiled and looked at Stork. "Hey Stork," he said casually. "Haven't seen you around for a while."

A while. He made it sound like he'd taken a vacation for a week or something. Not disappeared for years.

Stork's jaw hung slightly open, the ability of speech temporarily down.

"You know this guy?" asked Junko, looking at Stork.

The tall merb laughed. "I'm Gizzer. The Head Mechanic. Stork used to work here. He was one of our best employees, that is before he went off and became a Storm Hawk." The merb laughed again, a deep husky laugh. " I never would have thought...then again, I always knew you had something in you."

Stork cleared his throat uncomfortable. "Umm..heh..yeah. Er…How is the Condor?" He asked, quick to turn the conversation away from him.

"I've seen worse." said Gizzer. "We can have 'er up in no time. The modifications to make her ready to go over the Barrier cliffs may take a little longer but shouldn't be long."

"Over the cliffs?" cried Pydge.

"Awesome!" Griffin agreed and all three began chattering excitedly.

"Oh no not you three," Gizzer said noticing the tiny merbs for the first time. "You get out of here before you damage any more of my ships alrigh'?"

The three groaned. "Please, can we stay?" Griffin begged and they all made puppy dog eyes.

"No. And that's ma finale answer. Now get outta here." Gizzer's voice was one of finality.

The three Sky Scouts muttered and murmured dejectedly under their breaths and began to slouch away out of the garage.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Junko, eager to fix the Condor and rescue the rest of his team.

"Depends." said Gizzer. "Those muscles for show?"

"Nope!" Junko chirped, flexing.

"Perfect," said Gizzer. "Then let's get to it."

There was a loud creaking, and then the sound of an explosion going off, from the direction of the Condor. Stork 'eeped' in alarm and watched in horror as black smoke began to emanate from the windows and cracks of the ship, while several merbs began to poke their heads out through the windows, coughing.

"Gah!" Stork screeched. "My ship!"

* * *

_Cassiter was standing at the head of the group now. He leaned down and from the side of his boot brought out a dagger, its blade made of smoky white crystal._

"_Vos ackantus nisa!" he shouted and Cassiter charged._

_Carnelians eyes widened. "Cassiter! No!"_

"Cassiter! Deciit! Deciit!" Carnelians voice was in shear panic.

"AHH!" Cassiter launched himself onto the closest skugger, slamming his dagger into its back. Almost instantly, the white glow of the daggers crystal vanished.

A sudden wave of nausea swept over him.

The skugger let out a piercing cry before bucking Cassiter off. The other four stared in horror as Cassiter was thrown like a rag doll, and hit the ground with a sickening thud, groaning in pain.

"_Idiot." _Carnelian hissed.

"What happened?" Aerrow demanded feeling useless. If he had to fight..well could he fight like this?

"They feed off crystal energy," Carnelian exclaimed. "He knows that! Minuetti!" She cursed.

Piper reached into the small sack at the side of hip, bringing out two crystals, one blue, one yellow. "Feed off crystal energy, huh?" she said. "Then let's give them more than they can swallow."

Piper came forward, determined and focused. She shut her eyes for a moment.

_Calm your mind. Feel the energy. Make it yours. _

It was hers.

Three shots, all direct hits, one at each skugger. They squealed in both ecstasy and pain, dropping off Roofus and turning their attention to Piper.

"I'll keep them busy," she shouted, running away from the others and putting some more distance between her and the insectoids. "Get Cassiter and Roofus."

Carnelian nodded and then took off, headed to Cassiter's limp form. Radarr scurried along side her and they tried to lift Cassiter up. He groaned, but was awake. Roofus sauntered over, and licked Cassister's face, making his hair stick up even more.

The three skuggers had backed Piper up against a wall of rock and crystal. With one hand, she continued to blast at the creatures as they crawled closer. In the other hand she pulled out her Levitation crystal.

"Arghh!"

Aerrow threw himself at one of the skuggers desperately hoping to make some sort of damage.

Which was useless of course. He went right through and sunk midway into the ground. The skugger per se, felt no more than a shiver.

Aerrow quickly jumped back up and shouted desperately. "Piper! Get out of there!"

The three skuggers gurgled eagerly, and from her close position she noticed each one had two mouths, one below the other, as well as teeth with tops like meat tenderizers, both dull and jagged.

The gurgling became a high pitched shriek and the skuggers charged- only to crash into each other and the rock ridge where Piper had been a second ago.

Piper floated above them, chuckling slightly, as below the skuggers shook their head from the rubble and teetered of dizziness.

"Nice one," said Aerrow who had floated up next to her. She smiled back.

"We have Cassiter!" Shouted Carnelian. She had climbed on to Roofus' back, and had managed to drape Cassiter on the saddle in front of her. Radarr was on Roofus' head whispering something into the Sky Demon's ear. Roofus bayed in response, opened his wings, and took of into the air, if a little unsteadily.

Gaining altitude, they quickly took off out of the clearing. As they glided by, Carnelian smiled reached out a hand to Piper, to pull her on to the Sky Demon. Their finger tips met.

And Piper screamed as she was pulled down and away, a skugger's long frog-like tongue wrapped around her calf. Its spit hissed on contact of her boot, acid eating away the leather.

"No!" Carnelian and Aerrow both yelled.

Piper jerked around her body as she was flung down towards the skugger, and tried to use the Levitation to fly back up. For a moment, their forces were evenly matched, that is, till the two other skuggers also shot out their long mouldy green tongues, wrapping around her legs.

The glow around Piper's body began to dissipate, the light moving from her and traveling down the tongues and into the skuggers. Without she shot back down, screaming.

"Piper!" Aerrow dived down after her

Carnelian shouted in Adamattian to Roofus, and he turned, circling back round and gliding in low to the ground. Carnelian jumped off, feet hitting the ground.

Piper groaned on the ground, her eyes shut tight. She tried to sit up, and a ripple of pain ran through the arm she was lying on. She yelled as her whole form hopped forward on the rocks, the skuggers all tugging at her.

Aerrow landed next to the navigator, kneeling in his ghostly form. "Piper, are you alright?" He asked desperately.

She looked up at him and was going to answer but another tug of the tongues dragged her away sharply and closer towards the drooling mouths of the skuggers. The saliva was starting to burn Piper's calf and she tried to claw on to the rocks and dirt to keep from sliding closer.

That was when Carnelian ran out in front of the Skuggers.

They twisted their heads in curiosity.

The first thing she was pull out a knife, a crystal blade like Cassiter's. She stabbed down on one of the tongues.

The skugger squealed and recoiled it's tongue, the whole crystal blade vanishing into one of the mouths. All the skugger's eyes were on her now.

Carnelian began to glow. First, it was the orange crystals on her skin, then all over. Her eyes shone brighter, and her hair looked like fire.

The tangerine energy curled around her, gathering it in her fists. Then she pulled up her arms and let it go. It looked like flames swirling in the air and at all three skuggers.

"Carnelian!" Aerrow shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a distraction!" she called back in her accented Atmosian.

The fire bath died and the skuggers growled pleasurably. Piper watched in amazement as the remaining frog tongues loosened their grip and snapped back into the respective mouths.

"That's right!" said Carnelian, her skinny knees quaking. "F-follow me!"

A skugger stomped it's foot and she screamed, taking off through the clearing with all the speed she had_. "GO!"_

The skuggers charged running after the tasty snack, while she dodged their tongues.

"C'mon," said Aerrow. Roofus landed by Piper and Radarr tried to help her climb up.

'Dead End' was such an appropriate term. The end of the clearing where the Antiseer crystal sat, surrounded by the rocks that were not too high, nor un climbable ( simply that no Krystallion or human could climb it faster than a Skugger could catch you) had Carnelian stuck literally between a rock and a hard place.

Or between a rock and slimy teeth in this case.

She was backed up against the crystal, quivering uncontrollably.

"Carnelian!" shouted Piper.

Roofus was flying low over head from the right. A rope toppled from the saddle. Carnelian grabbed it as it passed, her arm nearly yanked out of it's socket from the force. She had to pull up feet quick as wall of rock quickly approached, nearly shaving off her feet.

Roofus gained altitude fast. The good news is that it put Carnelian out of reach of the skuggers' tongues.

The bad news is that Carnelian was not a fan out heights, or at least not a fan of dangling at high heights from just a skinny rope (what type of person is, I wonder). She screeched and shut her eyes clinging on as tight as she could.

"Climb up!" shouted Piper. Carnelian whimpered.

Roofus looked back at Piper and winked. Then the Sky Beast flicked up his one side making Carnelian fly into the air screaming (- hey you would too) , and quickly swerved underneath to catch her. Carnelian bounced on the saddle from imapct, and her hands dug into the leather, holding on for dear life.

Piper laughed. "Hey smart thinking back there. You just saved our lives."

"Yeah," Aerrow agreed, feeling more depressed about being so helpless in a fight than ever. "Brave move."

"Brave, stupid, fatal," she mused her voice still high pitched. "Sure, no problem."

Aerrow and Piper chuckled. "You know," said Aerrow, "You kind of remind of one of our friends…"

* * *

Stork glared his deepest glare, with as much contempt and dislike as he could muster into one glare.

"Quit looking at me like that," snapped Finn. "I said I'm sorry."

Stork sneered. "Sorry isn't going to replace the Gas Transistor you blew."

"I was _trying_ to _fix_ it!"

"It _wasn't broken_. Everything else on the ship is but _nooo, _you _had _to touch the _one thin_-" He stopped mid sentence and his hands flew up to his face in panic. "Gah! It's closed!"

The parts shop that Finn had been sent to (and Stork had to go along with because the part was of a specific and very old model) was locked up tight, metal curtains drawn down over every window and door. A sign on the front read in large letters: CLOSED .

"Closed?" said Finn in disbelief, the wagon running into the back of his own legs. "But it's too early."

"The Nyctophob family." Stork said in explanation. "_I think. _Been a while. Anyways, they've always closed early. Apparently a pack of vampires has had a long grudge against them, so they always close before it gets dark."

Finn stared at him. "Closed…for _vampires?"_

Stork pulled a piece of paper out from his pocket. "According to the directions Gizzer gave us, the only other store that has the Transistor is…" his tone dropped and shoulders slumped. "…all the way at the other side of this town."

Finn sighed exasperated. "Let's see the map."

Stork held out the paper. The path from the warehouse to both stores was drawn out in red. The second was indeed at the other side of town, but path went in a wide curve away from where they were, like a backwards C.

"Better start walking," said Stork as he began to move in the direction pointed out on the map.

"What are you talking about?" replied Finn grabbing Stork and pulling him back. "We should go this way," he said pointing in the opposite direction.

Stork whacked one hand against the map. "The path is this way." He gestured with his thumb back the way he'd started walking.

Finn snatched the map out of Stork's hands. "Well, _I _can see a _better _path. He fanned out the map and held back Stork with his foot on the merb's chest. "Uh huh. Yup, definitely this way." He pulled back his foot and dodged Stork.

"_We should follow the map," _hissed Stork getting close to Finn's face, a sure sign he was losing patience.

"Follow the map huh?" Finn smiled. "Alright then," Finn held up the map, crushed in his fist. "Follow the map!" And Finn started to run in the other direction taking the map with him.

"Finn!" Shouted Stork.

Why was he being such an _idiot? _They didn't have time to fool around! Everything relied on them getting the Condor back in shape and ready to fly over the barrier cliffs. Stork grabbed the wagon and started running after the sharpshooter shouting his name, and trying to remind him how dangerous short-cuts were.

Finn was laughing as Stork chased after him. He didn't know why he was being so uptight - with everything that had happened recently he needed to relax before the stress killed him. Plus they didn't have time to waste taking some ridiculously long path that would probably take so long, that by the time they got to the store, it would be closed too. He was so busy running and trying to evade Stork that he didn't notice the thinning of the crowd, or the decline of state of the buildings. The cobblestone got rockier beneath his shoes, making it harder to run.

Finn took another sharp turn onto a side street, looking behind himself and laughing. Another quick veer around a bend and then-

Gravel crunched as he skidded to a sudden stop. The smile dropped off his face, the sight of what lay before him, shocking him into stillness.

The silence was large. Gaping. His grip on the map loosened, and the paper crinkled when landed on the ground.

It was so big, and seemed so endless. It made him think of Terra Deep, the green fog seeping slowly along. And it made him think of other sights, ones from long, long ago, that sent shivers up and down his spine. For what looked like miles, the sharp, crooked, broken mounds went on. He knew what they were. What they had been.

He stared at the field of rubble.

Houses.

Home sweet...


	25. Walls and Dead Ends

**A/N: Aha? What's this? A chapter? I can apologize for not posting till the cows come home but I should better save my words for writing than apologizing. And why is when I finally return the front page so happens to be filled with OC stories?**

**And this is short too so hate me.**

* * *

**Chapter 25: Walls, and Dead Ends  
**

The fog moved silently. It hovered among the wreckage between the mounds of wood and stone and glass. There was a silence. Like the silence that comes after a very large noise. Like it was waiting for the next thunderclap, for the horn of a massive airship to blow again.

The ground was broken. There had been a platonic shift, or perhaps it had always been that way. A few feet before where Finn stood the ground dropped off sharply, like it was separating the town from the past. There a was wind that made no noise and seemed to ruffle nothing but urge the fog.

The wheels of the wagon creaked clearly, and gravel scuffed as Stork walked up behind Finn, the chase, obviously over.

The two stood there, overlooking the expanse. Absorbed by it's immensity of space and what it contained.

"What was it?"

It didn't really sound like a question. It didn't sound like Finn either. It was monotonously serious.

Stork crouched low to the ground and picked up a stray pebble.

"Cyclonians." He replied in a an uninterested tone.

Stork flicked the pebble and flew of the edge of the small ridge. It tumbled down, clinking off the rocks, hitting the bottom and then becoming still.

Finn continued to stare out across the stationary debris.

"How long ago?" Same sober manner.

Stork flicked another pebble, shooting it from the ground this time.

"How long have I been traveling with you?"

Finn glanced over at him, a bit confused by the question. "Two years." he said.

"Then, oh, about five." Stork replied, looking over the flat.

"Years?" Shock etched into Finn's flat tone.

"Give or take." Stork said nonchalantly. "Time in the wastelands passes differently. Well, seems to anyways."

Finn's subdued statue had worn off a little. He gaped at Stork. Then he looked at the wreck, then back at his team-mate.

"This was you," he said the realization startling him.

Stork didn't meet Finn's eyes. His lips with pursed together softly and he scratched his shoulder, displaying no emotion.

"You never came back to Terra Merb…because there wasn't anything to go back to."

Stork stared at the ground, tracing his finger through the gravel making irregular shapes. He gave no indication that he had heard Finn.

Neither spoke for a while.

Appearing more board than anything else Stork continued to draw lines in the grit on the ground. Finn was still gaping slightly at Stork.

No one ever talked about it.

Their darker, blurrier, pasts.

It was something they all left to drift in the background like a wall. This wall- when things went wrong, whenever they were afraid and felt life backing away from a fight, this wall stopped them, kept them from turning away from being a squadron. It didn't allow them to run away. But they never talked about it- their past experiences. Memories of their oldest homes and lives were all behind that wall, pushing them forward, giving them a reason to fight. Settling down on a terra, getting regular jobs and living 'peaceful' lives- the wall didn't allow them to move in that direction. No one talked about it though. The wall, and whatever was behind it. No one talked about it.

But it was still there.

Stork stopped midway though a square and looked up and out across the field. "You see that pile?" he asked, pointing out.

Finn tried to spot the mound Stork was pointing at. "Uh…which one?" he asked.

"The one to the left, with little bits sticking up."

"You mean that one?" asked Finn squinting his eyes, then pointing.

"No, no, no- wait? Which one are you pointing at?" Stork stood and leaned over near Finn, trying to see more accurately from his angle.

"That one." Finn repeated.

"No, no, up two and to the left, I mean right."

"Oh…with the wood sticking up?"

"Yup."

"Oh yeah I see it…I think."

Stork moved away from Finn and went back to squatting without saying anything else. Finally, Finn asked, "What about it?"

Stork shrugged. "Used to be mine."

And then Stork did something very unusual, even for him, something that no one had done before.

He started talking about the wall, and what was behind it for him.

* * *

Piper stood cautiously, twisting her foot against the floor. Her lithe ankle was wrapped in bandages.

"How do you feel?" asked Aerrow, concern in his translucent eyes.

She turned around and smiled. "Fine," she replied, a tiny chuckle mingling in her words. They'd been able to return to the city later that night and had been given some quick medical attention under Qin's order. Cassiter had a minor concussion and was still snoring in his bed, a bit sprawled out, she melancholy connected, like Finn slept. Carnelian was nothing more than frazzled and Roofus was being treated back in the Sky Demon stables. The morning's light was shining into the infirmary from the balcony and the huge windows, reflecting off the cyan crystal floor and off the white of the bed spreads.

Aerrow's eyes darted from Piper's bandages on her calves and ankle, the acid on the Skugger's tongues had done some minor damage, and to her face, trying to decipher whether she felt as fine as she claimed.

"Really, I am." Piper insisted catching his worried glances. "The medicine the nurses gave pretty much healed me."

"Just take it easy," said Aerrow, "You don't need to strain yourself."

"I won't." Piper insisted. "Don't worry."

"It's just that I feel so bad," Aerrow admitted hanging his head shamefully. "I wasn't able to help you guys at all. I guess I'm not used to being useless."

"No," said Piper taking a step closer, "You are not useless, alright? There wasn't anything you _could_ do so don't blame yourself."

Aerrow grimaced, still disappointed with himself. Somehow she knew this.

"Hey," chastised Piper. "You can barely turn the pages on the book." she said.

"That doesn't make me feel much better." Aerrow noted.

"I'm just saying," Piper continued, "Fighting off a foreign creature is a bit of a jump."

Aerrow thought about it and smiled a little. "I guess you're right."

Piper giggled.

Outside in the hall, a figure slunk away from the door. Domiwick smiled to himself. So the trip to the Anti-seer crystal hadn't gone well. And that annoying little brat of a girl had been injured so they wouldn't been doing anymore exploring for a little while. That was good news for him. Still, he hadn't expected them to come back so soon. Their little excursion had barely left him with enough time to copy the relevant pages from _The Complete Guide of Crystals, Volume 5 _as well as all the other books and maps containing any information about the Helix crystal. He had at first thought about simply taking the book, but then the girl would know something was up. Unfortunately, since Cyclonis had yet to return all he could do was hold on to the copied notes and wait for Cyclonis. She was sure to want such a gem, and supply all the means of getting it. The trip would be far too dangerous to commence alone. Getting to the Farside had been troubling enough on his own- and he was not about to die now before he was able to return to Atmos with his discoveries. He curled one fist determinedly.

Soon he was going to be the most famous explorer _ever._

_

* * *

_

Meanwhile….

The air above Cyclonia was fresher than it had ever been.

It still reeked.

The skies were still tinted ominously orange, like a stain that could not be removed. Skimmers darted around in the sky.

_Starling's Log_

_In light of the recent attack of Ae- The Dark Ace, the Skyknight Council called an emergency meeting. The squadrons now have been sent throughout Atmos to search out any hiding Cyclonian camps. _

Starling peered down over the side of her ride. You couldn't miss the hulking mass of rock that had once been Cyclonia- it looked oddly though as if it belonged in the Wastelands- its spiky columns matching those that naturally sprung there.

She took her ride down towards the fallen castle.

Stepping into the main chamber it was hard to believe it had been abandoned only a week or so ago. It appeared to have been longer than that it seemed so cold and still.

The place was a wreck and the whole terra was slanted, making walking a strange action. Running about searching the fortress, and holding up crystal torches to the darkened places was the search team. One of the captains of the team came up to Starling who was staring at a pile of rundown metal and glass. He handed her a purple crystal and reported that they hadn't found anything else yet.

…_Few books and records. Food and supplies all seemed to have vanished with their people. The terra is abandoned. The only clue is several drained warp crystals throughout the terra. The Cyclonians must have used them to make their hasty getaway._

Stepping back outside another member of the search team came up to Starling and told her the other squadrons that had been scavenging the other terras had not found anything either.

_I can only imagine they're hiding somewhere in the Wastelands or on some unknown terras. If so, it will be difficult to find their base.  
_

Starling sighed. It had been too good to be true. Cyclonia had been the plague of Atmos for hundreds of years. It figured that it would not be rid of so easily. And it would be too convenient to have found the remaining Cyclonians hiding at their old terra. She had reached a dead end.

Starling glanced at some more passing skimmers combing the area.

She thought of the Storm Hawks and hoped they were alright.


	26. To New Heights and Lows

**A/N: It's frustrating that I don't feel like I can write anymore.**

* * *

The Condor looked amazing.

She _gleamed._

It had taken several days ( a couple more than expected due to an unexpected - okay that's wrong: on Terra Merb every disaster is pretty much expected- Darkness spell*) but it had gotten done.

She was more rocket than airship now. Having to jump to the stratosphere and also over the barrier cliffs required a lot of adjustments. Not to mention she was in bad shape to begin with from the crash into the Wastelands. But now she looked ready to take on anything.

The sky was murky against the ship. Finn, Junko and Stork stood before it in the clearing.

The take-off ramp was huge, and it hung off the side of the terra like the most dangerous rollercoaster idea ever. Some of the merbs had warned that putting it there would set the whole terra off balance but so far, so good.

But as they add on Terra Merb: '-_for now'._

"She'll slide down the ramp and launch upwards. Once up, you have to drop the side boosters and activate the gravity stones and amplifier crystals in the inverted matrix." Gizzer was explaining.

"We _have_ done this before," said Finn arms crossed and trying to act bored in order to look cool.

"You've been over the cliffs before?" said Gizzer raising an eyebrow.

"Well uh…our Skyknight went over once...but, uh, we were there too you know. Looking on." Finn stammered.

Gizzer turned to the ship. "Well I hope you know what yer doing. Many have tried to pass ther' cliffs." He looked back the Storm Hawks, warning in his eyes, "But they never come _back."_

Junko swallowed.

"Well, huh," Finn laughed. "Maybe its just really, uh, nice over there."

"Oh I wouldn't dare hope," Stork added. "With only enough fuel to get over the cliffs and make a quick landing, there's a good chance we may be stuck there forever."

"We don't have a choice," Junko argued. "We've got to rescue Aerrow, Piper and Radarr. Once were altogether we'll figure something out."

Finn smiled weakly and Stork was doing his best to attempt something along the lines.

There was a dim hope about them all despite the bleak possibilities.

And of all the bleak possibilities, there was, of course, the awful thought that they were already too late, and that their mission would be futile: ending with forever being stuck in a mysterious land they knew nothing of. If the other half of the team was not retrieved…no one had said anything of it yet. If nothing could be done about that, what would be done about everything else?

So they dimly hoped. When Pandora opened the box, there was only hope left inside.

"And before yeh go," Gizzer was taking something from another merb, "Take these." he held out several layers of fabric which turned out to be suits complete with helmets, air supply, radishes, garlic and other oddities. Only Stork seemed pleased to get one.

* * *

_Launch._

The inside of the ship showed no trace that a demonic force called the Dark Ace disguised as a kind red-headed young man had ever completely trashed it. Everything was in place.

"_You're ready for take off.", _the intercom informed.

"_All clear," _hummed Stork mostly to himself.

"Systems are go," said Junko and he exchanged a thumbs up with Finn.

They sat strapped into their seats smiling and waiting.

A couple moments passed.

"Ummm…" said Finn.

"Oh right," Stork seemed to snap out of it. "I was-" he chuckled, "-waiting for orders."

From the Skyknight.

The pilot flicked a couple of switches then placed his hand of the main lever.

"_We are taking off."_

_Yank!_

The Condor lurched forward and began to tip on the rails, slowly at first, then gaining momentum quickly, shooting down on an inverted arch. Gravitational potential energy changed into kinetic. The ship tipped back up, up the other side of the rails, then, beyond the rails, rockets activating and shooting higher, vertically into the dark grey sky.

The merbs below cheered and waved them on. They probably would have watched longer if lightening had not suddenly flashed and thunder rumbled causing them all to start running indoors just as it began to rain.

Gizzer ran under the small over hanging of a storefront nearby and looked back into the sky. By then, the Condor was nothing but a tiny spot of blue flame and a glint.

Another merb beside Gizzer was quivering and was also looking after the Condor.

Thunder rumbled again, seeming to shake the foundations of the terra.

"It's bad omen." said the merb. "A foul tempest like this."

"Maybe," replied Gizzer. "But they're Storm Hawks. Maybe a storm is a good sign."

* * *

_How could a place with so much molten rock be so frigid?_

The Master took her cloak and dug her fine fingers into the fabric pulling it closer around herself.

It was the wind that did it. It was relentless and biting; merciless.

The young Master ground her teeth together. If the wind could be merciless so could she.

At least the wind had brought dark clouds with it. They would provide some cover for the time.

Cyclonis felt a scream biding just beneath her calm logical exterior. The Talon camps were still scattered and difficult to keep track of. People came and went without much identification. Normal citizens, living in the old abandon mining tunnels they had found, were disappearing one by one. And it was not lava-beats picking them off. Morale was low and she was no where in the mood to be cajoling. Soldiers were also not impressed. Rations were short, supplies were low, conditions were less than uncomfortable.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to break something, kill someone ( preferably the Storm Hawks). She wanted the people to respect her, fear her again. She wanted to make Atmos shake in fright, shriek in pain, crawl on its knees and submit to her, to pay for all the trouble it had caused her. She wanted to quit and give up, and cry, crawl herself, into a hole and never come back out to face the world.

_No, _she told herself letting anger cover up the sense of defeat. She would not fade away from the Atmos; If she was going to lose she was going to take as big a chunk of the world with her in a blinding rage.

"Is everything alright?"

He still sounded enough like the aggravating skyknight boy to make her flicnh.

She turned to him peevishly. Since word had spread from Atmosia of his true identity he had quickly (and too happily) changed out of the boy's old uniform. She had no doubt that it had long been tossed into one of the lava lakes. But he wore no typical Talon uniform either. It was interesting dark patchwork of brown and black and metal that made him look more like a rogue than a soldier.

His outward appearance, and less than gracious attitude towards her, made him a untrustworthy figure.

"_Couldn't. Be. Better." _she hissed. 'Is everything alright?' What a stupid question! Since when had 'everything' _ever_ been alright? The only time she had been further from alright than now was when she had been wandering in the Farside after being outmatched by a couple of uneducated hooligans, after destroying her own servant by _accident, _afterwitnessing her terra beginning to fall, and finding herself alone and lost and defeated for several frantic days.

And this was not much better!

The Door was the only the good thing about any of it. Cyclonis' only stable assurance, the only possibility of rising up again, lay with the Door.

But she had not used it yet. It would be too much like running away and she would not let herself do such a tempting thing. First, she would salvage what she could of her empire. Then she would exploit the Farside once more.

But was there anything to exploit?

If Piper had survived…

It seemed likely to Cyclonis, despite having left the girl injured and alone in the mysterious and wondrous place. After all, Cyclonis had been alone and disadvantaged too.

And she would not underestimate the girl again.

But Piper…Would she have made it to Adamanttia and gained the Krystallions' trust? Would her sweet, innocent face woo them to her side like a hero to a frail girl? If Cyclonis returned to the Krystallions whose side would they take? Perhaps Piper had not reached them at all?

A soldier approached her. He saluted.

"Yes?" Cyclonis asked turning to him slightly.

"We have news Master. We have received word that the Storm Hawks have survived-"

The Master's face gave way to surprise. The Dark Ace behind her reacted similarly, and he looked to the ground gritting his teeth.

"-and last we heard they were on Terra Merb. They've modelled their ship, we hear, to go over the Barrier cliffs."

"How long ago?" Cyclonis demanded.

"The ship was finished yesterday I believe."

Cyclonis' mood had gone from bad to worse and she whirled around to glare at the Dark Ace.

He knew he was going to get it.

The urge to scream was breaking through her skin.

"_**You said they were taken care of."**_

"I checked, I made-"

"Cleary you did not!"

She marched towards him. Even though her clothes were beginning to show ware, ragged like the rest of her empire, she was still a furious sight that made those taller than her cower beneath.

And now he had lost some of his previous height (in more ways than one).

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What could he say that would not further anger her? He could apologize and beg for mercy; but it was below_ his dignity_ and he did not feel like saying sorry to her anytime soon.

_She _had not _apologized_ to _him _after all.

And he doubted she ever would.

"Why-" she asked. "-do I bother to keep you around? You have failed too many times Dark Ace! I exiled Ravess. I dismissed the Raptors. I banished Snipe to the Wastelands-"

"Perhaps we'll run into him here then." He said snarkily without thinking.

He should not have said anything.

The Master's scowled deeper. _**"Why?" **_The demonic edge creeped her voice. She had not used that trick in a while. "_**Why should I not do the same to you?"**_

Her anger was too thick flowing. It seeped into him between his armour.

"The same to _me?" _he started, planting his feet, returning her glare. "You've _already_ done worse to me! Give me one good reason for me to stay around after what you did."

Her staff jabbed close to his face forcing him back, casting a red glow on his face.

And, on hers.

"Oh where else could you go Dark Ace?" she mocked. _Where else can I go? "_That the Skyknights would not hunt you down? And what else would you do?"

_What else would I do? "_This fight has been your whole life."

He frowned at her, but he knew she was right.

"If you're sick of it all, just say so. I'll gladly rip apart every last connection you have still binding you to this world. But till then, _**try**_ to do your job _correctly, or I will dismiss you."_

His hands curled at his sides, and his face was grim. But she had won.

"Yes…Master."

His submission gave her no pleasure and she turned away hastily.

By now the Storm Hawks had probably already taken off. How long would it take to regroup?

The Skyknights were loose on Atmos as it was. It would not be long till the camps would be discovered.

And what would they discover? Homeless, hopeless, powerless, pathetic wretches wandering the Wastelands.

Her world had already fallen apart.

They had already defeated her.

Cylonis' hand dug into her cloak against her chest.

"_Bring me the Door."_

_

* * *

_"Eight leagues!" shouted Junko monitoring the altitude screen. "Nine! Ten!"

"Dropping boosters." Stork announced cranking another lever. The ship jolted as the passengers heard the low 'clunk' as the side rockets detached.

They fell away from the ship and (hopefully) into the barren wastelands far, far below.

The ship's speed increased dramatically.

"Sixteen leagues!" Junko shouted. "Eighteen…nineteen. Twenty!"

The ship groaned.

"C'mon baby hold it together," Stork chanted. She could not give out before they'd even reached over the cliffs!

"Twenty-Two leagues!"

On the dashboard a small yellow light started flashing and beeping.

"Crystal matrix system is fluctuating!" Shouted Finn spotting the little bulb. He turned to the others. "That's a bad thing right?"

Stork fiddled nervously with the controls, his three fingered hands darting about like an artist doing a speed-painting.

There was a whirring noise and the lights on the bridge flickered haphazardly. The ship started to level off and the crew held their breath.

One, two, three….

The matrix system stabilized. The lights came back on.

The team sighed.

"Systems are stable," Stork reported. "Were now somewhere in the middle of the stratosphere." But he groaned a little mumbling, "I hope that's high enough."

"Great," said Finn trying to act as though he were in charge. "Good job team, now, let's jump those cliffs!"

Stork sneered at Finn, not at receptive to being told what to do by _him. _

"It's easier said than done." Stork unbuckled his seat belt and walked over to the table. Finn and Junko looked at each other and followed suit. Stork pulled out a map and several papers of diagrams and calculations.

"Last time Aerrow went over the cliffs he was just in a tiny skimmer. Not to mention he was entering from the exosphere, falling down. We're still somewhat below the mountain line. Therefore were going to have to propel ourselves upwards and over. That '_jump_' is going to require quite a bit of fuel. If we use to much fuel for the jump then we not be able to pull out of the dive. If we don't use enough…"

Junko and Finn stared at the pilot.

"_**Smack."**_

"Okay..so how do we know how much fuel to use?"

Stork pulled out one of the papers covered in a great deal of numbers. "The merbian scientists were able to do some calculations but it's mostly just an estimate. Truth be told…it would have been a lot better if Piper were here…"

"She is better at this sort of thing." Finn agreed. He pulled the sheet of paper over to him and looked at it. "She'd certainly understand this a lot better then me."

"That's why were doing this though!" Junko said, blinking back tears. "We've got to save them."

But neither Stork nor Finn looked too confident, staring to the table, frowning.

_We don't have her skills._

They went back to their seats and strapped themselves in tightly. Stork was steering the Condor close to the cliffs. Their peak still stretched above them, casting a shadow. There was a fog creeping around, not thick enough to cloud their view of the peaks, but still distressing.

Junko had the papers and he started reading of instructions to Stork.

"Increase power of matrix system to the bow to 32."

The front of the Condor tilted up.

"Generate the velocity-energizer crystal array."

Stork pulled a couple of switches.

The engines on the Condor spewed blue flames.

"Activate thrust!"

Stork shut his yes and yanked on the lever.

The Condor's rocket reared to life, propelling the ship upward again.

The ride was turbulent though. Stork gritted his teeth but the ship was going fast and he was losing grip.

The wind shifted, and the fog that had only been lurking in the corners of their view slid over enveloping them.

And the sights of the cliffs disappeared.

Finn screamed.

The Condor hit something, and jolted.

"I think I might be sick." Junko moaned.

Stork's face was stiff in expression of terror, his hands clamped tightly to the steering.

_And were not brave like him._

The ship sped upwards. Stork knew they had to be approaching the point soon.

"What's the next step?" He yelled.

"Huh?" Junko looked up from the floor thinking about how horrible it would be if he threw up while still wearing his air-supply helmet.

"The. Next. Step!"

"Oh," he looked back at the papers and realized he had accidentally crushed them.

"Er..ummm…" he tried to make out the writing.

"Junko!"

"At 27 leagues hit the Nitro Pulse!"

Stork stared at the gauge on the panel. The little meter was dancing at twenty-nine leagues.

"We've already passed itttt-!" Stork yelled nervously as he grabbed another lever pushing it hard.

The Condor threw itself upwards even faster.

And then, holding on the chair, stomach and controls for dear life the Storm Hawks saw something glimmer in the fog. Sunlight.

The ship burst through the cloud line, like a fish out of water. The peaks were right before them.

And they flew right over.

The Storm Hawks cheered. The ship curved above the cliffs, and started to tilt down. On the other side the layer of fog remained. The ship dived into it, smoothly gliding so quickly and gaining speed so fast one might have though it was…

It was….

Finn and Junko were cheering loudly in the background. Stork chuckled in relief. "I knew you could it," he said aloud to the ship. "Is there nothing you can't-"

The ship's fuel level was at zero.

It was falling….

"_-do."_


	27. Hitch in the Plan

**A/N: So recent reviews have brought this story back up on my to-do list and incited my sister and I to re-read some chapters. Aloud. In a stupid, over dramatic narration with horrible voices and god, oh god, the errors, the stupid spelling and grammer errors. "He shut his yes," for example has got to be one of the worst we saw. I think some chapters need to be re-uploaded. Till then, here's Ch 27. It includes a bit of a recap to help out, since, you know, its been like...forever. **

* * *

"Okay so, we know that Sagehen is the one who turned the Oracle into stone." said Piper jotting down another note on her piece of paper.

"But her brother must have stopped her because when I found the Oracle she had the key." Aerrow added.

"And my Grandfather told me that Sagehen and Heron were the last Atmosian people to use the door and speak with us. But all the books on their people have disappeared from our library." Carnelian also noted.

"Camus de parlenim rere?" (What are we doing again?) groaned Cassiter with his feet propped up on the table.

They were sitting in the library, various books piled around them. Cassiter's head was bandaged and he had an ice pack to it but he was pretty much back to normal.

"We're trying to figure out why the Anti-Seer crystal showed us those things. We wanted to know about the door-" explained Piper in Adamattian. "But all we got was these weird people and some sort of fight."

"Maybe you said the wrong thing." Cassiter replied back in his language.

"No that's not it." said Piper.

Cassiter scratched his bandages. "No Door at all?"

"Well…we saw some of it." Piper admitted. She rubbed her hand under her chin and then spoke again this time in Atmosian. "The Door was there and that's what they were fighting over. By the looks of it, Sagehen was supposed to become ruler of Xoam, but instead her brother got the power. Sagehen was also getting other terras to follow her. She wanted the Krystallion technology and for that she needed the Door. But then there's also the Oracle."

"Definitely the same Oracle we've met before." said Aerrow decisively. " If only we were in Atmos maybe we could summon her in the Forbidden city. Maybe then she could tell us more."

"'Cept we wouldn't know how to summon her," said Piper.

"Hmmmm," Aerrow thought. "Seems like she could tell the future even when she was alive and so that crazy lady-"

"Sagehen." Interrupted Piper.

"-whatever, tried to force her and turned her to stone. And…" Aerrow trailed off unsure what else to say.

Piper sighed and fell back in her chair dejectedly. "It's not much to go on." She turned to Carnelain. "What else were you able to find out about Atmosian-Krystallion relationships?"

"Only what my Grandfather told me. For a long time the Door, I don't know whichever side had built it, was used to communicate and travel. But Krystallions did not go to Atmos much because the lack of energy there makes us weak. Over 500 years ago the Door stopped opening. All we knew was that some sort of dispute had erupted between the rulers of Xoam who had the Door. We never heard another word." Then she pulled out a crystal from her pocket and set it on the table activating it with grace. It was a Hologram stone, and the image it displayed was of royalty. Three people were in it and the Storm Hawks recognized them from the Anti-Seer crystal. It was of the throne room, and there was the Queen, Oriole, the son, Heron, and the daughter, Sagehen.

Aerrow's shoulders sagged. "It still doesn't help us much. We need more information."

Piper shook her head and rolled up her paper. "It doesn't matter. We have more important things to do. I've been looking at the maps again and been trying to figure out a way back to Atmosia. The problem is that none of them are sure to get us there. The underwater caverns are sealed, the barrier cliffs are too high, those weird tunnels don't seem trustworthy at all and we'd need a good ship for every one of them."

"Is that the problem?" asked Carnelian sounding surprised. "Because we can build you a ship and power it easily."

Piper looked touched by the generous offer. "But it would take a lot of power to do any of those things."

"Not a problem." said Carnelian smiling. "We have more than enough crystals. Why just a little bit of a burst from the Infinity stone we have up in the beaconing tower would be more than enough I think."

Piper and Aerrow's faces lit up but when they looked at each other Piper's hope crashed again. "But it wouldn't do any good." She realized looking at them sadly. "Even if we could get to the other side…Aerrow doesn't have a body. If the energy in this world is what helps keep him present then…he'd disappeared without it , wouldn't he?"

"Hey we don't know that for sure." said Aerrow. "I might get a little weaker that's all."

"Piper has a point." said Carnelian. "Though, you do too. I can't quite figure out how that, without your body you are able to be soo…present. Part of it is the crystal energy field here, yes , and without it you would surely be much weaker...but there is something else too. It is as though something else has you…", she spun her hand in the air, "-what's the word…bind? Something has you binded here. Oh wait…" she went on oblivious to Aerrow and Piper's jaw-dropped faces. "The past tense is 'bound' yes?" She looked at Piper for conformation of her grammar. But Piper and Aerrow were looking at each other curiously, thinking the same thing: _The Binding. _Had it saved Aerrow's life?

Piper pulled her gaze away from Aerrow's. "Speaking of 'binding'.." she said. "What do you know about it?" She gestured to the hologram of the rulers of Xoam. "They were able to do it."

Carnelian tilted her head for a moment, then, "Oh...you mean the crystal art that your people are capable of? I don't know much about it, except your race is able to manipulate crystals in a way not like us."

Piper looked taken aback. "You mean...you can't do it? But you guys know so much about crystals!"

Cassiter had fallen asleep in his chair.

"Yes." Carnelian admitted. "But we are part crystal. So putting an alien crystal's energy into us is…different. All I know is that the people of Xoam were very good at it."

Everyone was very quiet then, looking down at the floor like they might find their answers at their feet.

"So were stuck then?" said Aerrow.

No one else knew what to say. A loud snore suddenly ripped through their silence and they all gaped at Cassiter, asleep in his asinine position. Feet up and chair titled back precariously.

"He shouldn't sit like that." said Piper. "He'll get another concussion."

* * *

Cyclonis stood ready. Behind her was the Dark Ace. Before her was the Door. In a circle around her, were her Talons.

There was an angry resolve inside her. What was it the Dark Ace always said? Only show mercy the first time, so that they have the chance to change, to beg for forgiveness, but always kill on the second. Kill on the second because if they don't learn the first time they never will and they aren't worth letting live anyways.

She reached into her cloak, grasping the cold crystal inside.

"_This time," _she whispered so low that the wind swallowed it entirely_. "No mercy." _

_No mercy for any of you You've done too much to me._

She pulled out the crystal and smiled.

Suddenly one of her Talons pointed to the sky and exclaimed, "LOOK, IT'S THE SKYKNIGHTS!". Everyone's faces shot upwards immediately, gaping into empty grey sky. Everyone except for the Talon beside the Master, who leapt forward suddenly and _grabbed the key right out of her hands_, and kept running, followed by the Talon who had provided the distraction.

The Master screeched, disbelieving and furious_. "Get them!"_

The Talons running away screamed.

"I hope zis werks! Or else zwe are in big trouble!" The girl with the Key yelled to her friend.

"Less talk, more run!", her companion yelled back.

The girls ran, - you could never trust a female Talon it seemed- jumping over lava streams and into maze-like rocky territory. They lost some of the Talons by luck and by bad luck another pair jumped out from the shadows and into their path.

"Got you now girl-chck!" the one started to say just as the light purple haired Talon kicked him in the jaw before taking out his partner with her staff.

The Master was in a flurry of half-panic and cold rage. She was flying above looking for the Talons girls. She knew the Key was too crucial to leave up to her Talons to repossess. If they lost the Key she lost everything. She spotted the traitors, or spies, or whatever they were - it didn't matter she was going to have their heads!- below disappearing under over-hangings of rocks. She aimed down with her staff and fired viciously. A whole formation of rock exploded, collapsed, and a cloud of dust went up. She couldn't see the impostors anymore. Her eyes searched frantically over the wreckage of the fading cloud.

_There!_

Two figures escaping. She hadn't even hit one of them!

"Crazy witch nearly vaporized us!" shouted the purple haired Talon breathless and ripping off the goggles from her face, the red lenses completely cracked. Her head titled up to the sky, hoping that if she couldn't see Cyclonis maybe Cyclonis couldn't see them.

The green haired girl panted next to her. "I know. We need to get out of here now, but we left our rides onze zee other side of zee camp."

"Perhaps you girls could use a hand."

They gasped and looked over to a young man landing agilely from the top of a tall rock, like a lean cat. He _looked _like Aerrow. Maybe more ragged in his patchwork outfit, and maybe there was a harder gleam to his eyes. Like his insides were colder and callous.

"Stay back!" the purple-haired Talon told him, warning with her staff.

"Hey easy," he said, hands up in defence. "I'm trying to help you." There was a _sort _of sincerity to his voice. With a bit of grease to it that couldn't be washed off. And a jagged edge like anger, that couldn't be smoothed.

"Liar!" The green haired girl retorted.

"_Please," _he said too effortlessly. "It's me. Aerrow. You recognize me don't you Dove? Lynn? I'm undercover too."

They hadn't expected him to know their names. He saw indecision in their eyes as they glanced at each other.

And like a cat he pounced.

He leapt and reached out, grabbing Lynn's staff, and went to yank it out of her hands. Except Lynn did not let go. In fear her hand s had locked onto the bar. The Dark Ace tried to throw the girl, but Lynn held. Instead she used the bar to lift herself and kicked him in the stomach with both feet. He let go with and 'oohf' and Lynn flew back, falling hard onto the ground.

"I'd suggest staying down," the boy growled, at her, a blue double pronged energy sword pointed emphatically at Dove's neck. Dove was backed against the wall.

Both girls were calculating their chances of getting away and what distractions they could use, when an awful electricity prickled in the air, and Cyclonis descended smoothly, bringing a cloud of heavy tension and dread with her.

"The key?" she hissed, eagerly. "Where is it?" she looked at the Dark Ace and then at the girls.

Lynn and Dove held out their empty hands and smiled sheepishly.

"_What key?"_


End file.
